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succeeded in functioning effectively it would undoubtedly have wielded immense power ; but owing principally to lack of coordina- tion between its three constituents, it never took effective action upon an important question, and its last failure to act in the miners' strike of 1921 destroyed much of its prestige among the trade unions. Locally the branches of trade unions were united in Trade Councils, which in some cases were separate from and in other cases united with the local Labour party. These Trade Councils, _of which there were several hundreds in the United Kingdom, varied greatly in size and importance. In large towns where the Trade Council could often trace its history as far back as the eighteen- sixties it sometimes wielded important industrial and political influence, while in remote places it was little more than a rallying ground for a few trade union branches to discuss matters of com- mon interest. The Trade Councils for the most part, being com- posed of trade union branches with little money to spare, suffered from a lack of funds, though in times of crisis these could be partly increased by means of local levies. Their functions were not gen- erally defined. This meant in practice that they were limited by opportunity, and might include many types of activity, from the providing of a hall for local meetings or a local Labour weekly paper, to the temporary control of the whole life of a town during a general strike.

Ireland. Irish trade unionism, in its later stages, needs separate treatment. Originally trade unionism in Ireland was a weak copy of the British model ; but in the first decade of the twentieth century, it became imbued with ideas derived from the American Industrial Workers of the World. Under the leadership of James Larkin and of Connolly (executed after the Easter Rebellion of 1916) militant industrial unionism attained to great power. Its strongest exponent was the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, which was the leader in the Dublin strikes of 1913, and subsequently went through a period of severe repression. It survived, however, and in 1921 was by far the largest constituent element in the Irish Trade Union Congress and Labour Party. The latter body, which adopted polit- ical as well as industrial functions in 1912, acts far more as a central executive for its affiliated societies than does the British Trade Union Congress. Affiliated to it are all the important Irish trade unions, with the exception of some located in Ulster, which are kept apart from it by political and religious differences. There are also affiliated a large number of Trade Councils (including the Trade Council of Belfast), which in weakly-organized districts serve as organizing centres, workers being invited to join the Trade Council until a branch of the appropriate trade union can be founded. This is an important respect in which the Irish Trade Councils differ from those of Great Britain. The Irish movement was strongly re- publican in its political policy, and had close relations with Dail Eireann on the one hand, and with the Irish agricultural cooperative movement on the other. Most of the Irish industries are organized in the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, though in certain cases British trade unions have a large Irish membership. The most important Of these are the railway and postal employees (organized respectively by the National Union of Railwaymen, the Railway Clerks' Association, and the Union of Post Office Workers, though a purely Irish Postal Trade Union also exists), the engineering, shipbuilding and woodworking employees in Belfast and Dublin and some other large towns, and some women workers, mainly in the east and north, who are organized in the National Union of General Workers. There are also separate Ulster unions, principally jn the textile industries, but trade unionism in Ulster, especially in Belfast, is liable to be rent asunder from time to time by political and religious upheavals.

Legal Status. There were few changes during 1911-21 in the laws relating to trade unionism. The most important of these was the Trades Disputes Act of 1913, which partially undid the effect of the Osborne Judgment. It provided that any trade union might take a ballot of its membership on the question of establishing a fund for political purposes. If a majority of the members is in favour of its establishment, contributions for political purposes may be levied, but no member can be forced to contribute to the political fund who does not wish to do so. In cases where there is a composite sub- scription, covering all purposes of the trade union, any member can reclaim that part of his subscription which would be devoted to political purposes. The political fund must in all cases be separately! administered from the general funds. The Trade Union Amalgama- tion Act, passed in 1917, removed some of the previous legal restric- tions on the amalgamation of trade unions by providing that, where' a ballot is taken upon the question of amalgamation, it will be sufficient if fifty per cent of the membership votes, aTid if of those voting a majority of twenty per cent is in favour of it. Despite 1 this Act, a number of amalgamations have failed owing to an in- sufficient total of votes having been recorded, and various devices have been adopted for getting round the difficulty.

Finance. The finance of trade unions showed little change dur- ing the decade. Most trade unions slightly raised their subscrip- tions during the war, in about the same proportions, so that the unions of skilled workers have still a far higher subscription and provide on the average a larger number of benefits to their members i than the unions of the unskilled. Again, most trade unions built up fairly large reserve funds during the war which were consider- ably depleted during 1920-1, but here again the increase was greater in the case of the skilled unions. All trade unions made large use of the levy, which is one of the most important elements of trade union finance. It is obvious that strike and unemployment funds, particularly strike funds, cannot be put upon an actually sound oasis, so that in most trade unions the method is adopted, when a particular fund seems to be in low water, or some special object demands that an immediate sum of money be available, of imposing, generally after a ballot vote, a levy upon the whole mem- bership. Thus, a trade union may levy itself to provide assistance to a particular branch or strike, or to another trade union, or to finance the Daily Herald, or for any other of a variety of purposes, and the practice of imposing levies frequently renders the obligation of a member to his trade union very much greater than would ap- pear from the subscription rates laid down in the rule book.

AUTHORITIES. The volume of publications on British trade unionism has increased very rapidly. Official statistics are to be found in the Labour Gazette, published by the Ministry of Labour, in the reports of trade unionism issued by the Board of Trade (not since the war), and in the reports of the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies. Most of the available information will be found collected in the Labour Year Book. For the history, organization and theories of trade unions the standard works are The History of Trade Unionism (new edition, 1920) and Industrial Democracy (new edition, 1920) by Sidney and Beatrice Webb; Trade Unionism by C. M. Lloyd (revised edition, 1921); and An Introduction to Trade Unionism (1918) by G. D. H. Cole. All these contain full bibli- ographies. _ There are also special studies of trade unionism in particular industries. Of these may be mentioned Trade Unionism on the Railways (1917) by G. D. H. Cole and R. P. Arnot ; Village Trade Unions (1920) by Ernest Selley; and Women in Trade Unions by Barbara Drake (1920). The standard work on trade union law is The Legal Position of Trade Unions, by H. H. Slesscr and W. Smith Clark, and a smaller work by H. H. Slesser, The Law Relat-

The Progress of British Trade Unionism, IQIO-Q.

Industry

I'lIO

I9II

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

Building and

156,985

173-182

203,773

247,685

236,524

234,000

231,000

259,000

324,000

437,000

Woodworking

66.OOO

69,000

83,000

96,000

125,000

Mining and Quarrying

731-370

752,527

757,351

914,989

912,577

844,000

884,000

944,000

992,000

1,069,000

Metal, Engineering and

Shipbuilding.

370,093

414,896

479,308

538,751

557,741

641,000

699,000

849,000

952,000

1,074,000

Textiles and

380,541

437,856

479,266

518,871

498,232

449,000

457,000

543,000

616,000

706,000

Dyeing, etc..

64,000

75,000

87,000

91,000

104,000

Clothing and

67,124

74-423

91,832

105,975

102,318

65,000

51,000

78,000

120,000

156,000

Boots and Shoes

49,000

72,000

81,000

91,000

107,000

Railways ....

116,214

185,513

202,329

326,192

336,671

385,000

425,000

499,000

530,000

624,000

Other Transport

(land and water).

129,009

328,023

312,345

374-588

379,016

304,000

313,000

326,000

376,000

528,000

Printing ....

74-275

77,252

76,949

84,429

92,055

98,000

99,000

113,000

143,000

192,000

Agriculture and

69,171

176,211

187,831

331,234

366,539

26,OOO

29,000

59,000

130,000

203,000

General Labour

523,000

589,000

815,000

1,205,000

1,491,000

Others, including Pottery,



Glass and Chemical

24,000

32,000

42,000

55,ooo

65,000

Food, Drink, etc. Clerks, Shop Assistants, etc.

303,039

349,154

434,515

485.477

488,190

36,000 III.OOO

35,000 120,000

36,000 150,000

46,000 193,000

63,000 267,000

Teachers ....

I29,OOO

134,000

143,000

167,000

183,000

Public Authorities

244,000

251,000

310,000

353,000

390,000

Miscellaneous Trades

96,000

104,000

123,000

163,000

260,000

Total number of members

2,397,821

2,969,037

3,225,499

3,928,191

3,959,863

4,388,000

4,669,000

5,540,000

6,64-5,000

8,044,000