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.
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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
