MIA > Archive > Harry Pollitt
From International Press Correspondence, Vol. 2 No. 35, 11 May 1922, pp. 275–276.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
Public Domain: Marxists Internet Archive (2019). You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
The great lockout of the English engineers continues, and in order that our foreign comrades get a correct understanding the events which led up to the lockout, it is essential that they should have some idea of the history of the negotiations which have led up to the present situation.
In 1907 the Amalgamated Society of Engineers signed a 7 years’ agreement with the engineering employers, whereby both sides agreed to certain restrictions of activity, and machinery was built up to observe industrial peace. The agreement terminated in 1914 and both sides were in negotiations for the drawing up of a further modified agreement when the War broke out, and the new economic situation it created as a result of the increasing demand for skilled engineers placed the A.S.E. in a very favorable position. The employers were therefore anxious to get a definite truce signed.
With the prolongation of the War, and the continually increasing demand for munitions, the Government was forced to adopt all sorts of measures to get increased production, and owing to the fact that the officials of the trade-unions were afraid to fight the Government, strong unofficial Shop Stewards Committees sprung up in every large industrial centre.
They became very powerful, and the employers were forced to recognize them. The Shop Stewards popularized the cry “Workshop Control”, and soon everybody was prophesying the new era of industry where the workers would gain increasing control in the workshops. The employers bowed before the storm, and agreed to the setting up of Joint Industrial Councils, Whitley Councils, etc.
With the Armistice, the Engineering Unions pressed for a 44 hour working week, and finally won the 47 hour working week. This came into operation on January 1st, 1919. Its effect was immediately to call for new agreements in reference to overtime rates, night shift rates, apprentices, and the manning of machines. Endless conferences were held between the unions in the engineering industry, and the engineering employers.
Agreement was reached on some of the points, but on overtime, the manning of machines and the alteration of apprentices no common ground could be found. These conferences lasted through 1919, and during this period the A.S.E. which was the most powerful skilled union in the engineering industry was negotiating for amalgamation with other skilled unions in this industry. On July 1st, 1920, the A.S.E. and nine other unions amalgamated and the Amalgamated Engineering Union (A.E.U.) was formed.
In September 1920, the first effects of the trade depression began to be felt, and the employers began to demand immediate settlement of the points at issue. It was finally agreed “that systematic overtime is a pernicious principle, but that the unions agree to their members working not more than 32 hours overtime a month where necessary”.
Immediately this was adopted and put into operation, friction arose over the interpretation of “where necessary”. The unions took one view, the employers another. It has long been the custom with English trade-unions that when unemployment is rampant, no overtime should be allowed unless it was on urgent repair work or on maintenance work.
Conference after conference took place; the employers led by Sir Allan Smith bullied and threatened the A.E.U., but the A.E.U. refused to depart from its previous attitude. This led the engineering employers to take a decision to lockout the A.E.U. men in April 1921, but by this time the miners were on strike and to have gone on with the A.E.U., would have intensified the revolutionary situation that obtained at that time in England. The employers therefore stayed their notices. They knew that the A.E.U. was now paying out thousands of pounds per week in unemployment pay. (As the Summer of 1921 went on and unemployment increased tremendously, the A.E.U. had on an average 80,000 members out of work.)
This went on, the funds getting depleted until on November 7th and 8th, Sir Allan Smith again took up the offensive. At a conference of the A.E.U. and the engineering employers, Sir Allan Smith demanded that the A.E.U. should recommend its members to work overtime when the employers considered overtime to be necessary, without the union being consulted at all.
G.J. Brownlie, President of the A.E.U., again refused to recommend these terms to his members. Sir Allan Smith then delivered a broadside into the ranks of the A.E.U. He said “the A.E.U. Executive Council must come out of the clouds and face the facts. If they are not prepared to ask their members to accept the employers’ terms in reference to overtime, the employers will reduce wages and man the machines with whom they liked, and the Union will not be consulted at all.”
This was a bombshell and the Conference broke up. The A.E.U. then called a special conference of the national officials in London on November 18th, 1921 and after heated discussions decided by 22 votes to 11 to recommend, their members to accept the employers’ terms, in order that the door could be left open to negotiate with the employers on further wage reductions and the manning of machines.
This recommendation was placed before the members and on a ballot vote a huge majority was against accepting the employers’ terms.
The employers therefore decided to lockout the engineers on March 1st, 1922. This decision was put into effect, and about 250,000 members of the A.E.U. were locked out. In the engineering industry there are 50 other unions besides the A.E.U., and the employers then demanded that these unions should also decide for or against accepting this dictum of the right of the employer to do what he liked m the workshop.
These unions also took a ballot vote which also showed a majority against the employers’ terms. This then presented an opportunity for all the engineering unions to show a united front against this onslaught of the bosses, but alas, the crafty Sir Allan Smith knew that 47 of the 50 unions are in what is called the Engineering and Shipbuilding Federation, and he also knew that there is great jealousy and personal bitterness between the leaders of the A.E.U. and the E. and S. Federation. Sir Allan Smith also knew that it is not overtime the A.E.U. is against, but that it is afraid of unskilled men being put on machines that have always been the preserves of the skilled unions, and he knew that the two unskilled unions were very anxious to get their men on the machines. The war had proved that unskilled men can man the machines very efficiently and this great lesson had not been wasted upon the bosses.
Therefore the employers’ game was to divide the unions, and when M. Henderson and Mr. Bowerman, representing the Labor Party and the General Council of Trade Unions, began their task of trying to find a formula that would lead to a settlement, Sir Allan knew that it was very easy to find a formula whose interpretation would be disputed among the union leaders, which would thus break the united front of the unions.
Such a formula was found. The A.E.U. said it was exactly the same formula they were locked out for refusing, but Mr. Henderson said it was something better and recommended the other unions to start fresh negotiations on the new formula.
The other 47 unions agreed to this, and basely deserted the A.E.U. The employers then agreed to withdraw the lockout notices to the 47 unions, whilst further negotiations were taking place. After endless conferences, Sir Allan Smith calmly told the 47 unions on Good Friday morning that the A.E.U. interpretation was right, the employers demanded the right to give any orders they liked in the workshop and any discussion must take place after the orders have been executed and not before.
The 47 unions then withdrew and the employers again posted the lockout notices to the rest of the engineering unions. These notices expired on Tuesday May 2nd, and in addition to the A.E.U. members, being on the streets, their ranks are now augmented until we have over 850,000 trade unionists locked out of the engineering shops in England.
Just previous to the expiration of these last notices the Government agreed to the Labor Party’s demand for an inquiry. This has now opened, but it has no power and refused to ask the employers to revoke the lockout notices.
The fight is now in full swing; the employers are solid to a man, their leadership is splendid and they are making superhuman efforts to get blacklegs to carry on the work. They have placarded all their works inviting all their former employees to return to work if they are individually willing to accept the employers’ terms.
I am pleased to record that up to now not a factory has opened. The spirit of the rank and file is splendid and despite their hardships and some suffering they are putting up a magnificent fight.
It is the leadership that is bad; the Executive Council of all the unions refused to call out their members in non-federated shops, so that in many cases work has been transferred from a federated shop to a non-federated shop, and we get the spectacle of the A.E.U. men being locked out of a federated shop and A.E.U. men working in a non-federated shop finishing off the work transferred from a lock-out shop to their own.
The staff foremen and apprentices have been allowed to remain in the shops, and no attempt has been made to extend dispute or infuse a more vigorous spirit into the rank and file. Every one of the 50 unions engaged in the struggle are looking at it from the narrow sectional standpoint of their own union. There is no coordination. The General Council of Trade
Unions has failed to fulfil even the expectations of reformists. As the struggle, develops and the men see how ruthless are the forces arrayed against them and how weak the craft trade unions are, it must inevitably result in a big drift towards the left that will be reflected in the demand for industrial unions instead of craft unions.
The miners’ debacle is being repeated again, the lessons of that great betrayal have been lost upon the reformist trade union leaders. There is no unity, the skilled unions are fearful of the unskilled unions. The real fight has not yet begun, this lockout is but the preliminary skirmish in the fight that the English bosses are planning.
Side by side with the engineering lockout, the whole of the shipbuilding trades are locked out, through a refusal to accept a reduction of 16s/6d a week. These unions are now balloting on the new terms of the shipbuilding bosses, which are still 16s/6d, only spread over a longer period.
If they agree to accept these new terms, then they are locked out on managerial functions? If the engineers accept the terms of managerial functions, then they will have to fight against a reduction of wages.
This is a correct picture of the English trade-union movement at the present time. The class-struggle is being waged with a bitterness never experienced before, and out of this fight, moving everywhere amongst the masses, I can hear their bitter criticism of the existing trade-union structure.
This week the miners in Yorkshire and the North Warwick coal fields have had a further reduction of 10% in their wages. In September all the miners’ wages come up for review.
This year will be momentous in English working-class history, the disillusionment of the masses will be complete. Necessity will compel them to adopt the tactics of the united front and make it a tactic of action.
New battles and struggles are imminent. Today it is the engineers and shipbuilders, tomorrow the entire trade-union movement of England will be fighting for its very life.
Last updated on 27 December 2019