THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES

 CELEBRATING 140 YEARS OF WORKING CLASS STRUGGLE AND UNITY   

         NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE TRADES UNION COUNCIL  1873 -2013

  

                         A presentation of the Trades Council’s History

                    by Bro John Creaby, North East Labour History Society

      at  the 140th Annual General Meeting, Wednesday 6 February 2013

                                                                                                                

President, Brothers and Sisters

It is indeed a privilege and an honour to present what is obviously a mere outline of the 140 years of solidarity and campaigning for working people and their families by Newcastle Trades Union Council, the trades council. It  will show certain themes emerging strongly, right from the start ... organisation and solidarity, unemployment campaigns, anti-racism, peace campaigning , anti-colonialism / imperialism, community struggles  and arts and culture. It is also somewhat a personal perspective, as a participant rather than merely an observer of its history.

My own association with this Trades Council (TC) goes back to 1959. Working at Gateshead Co-op,and therefore a member of  USDAW, I was a member of Gateshead Labour Party/Trades Council. But I was more active in the Labour Party Young Socialistsqand more particularly Youth CND.  Newcastle Trades Council was the only labour organisation in the North East through which CND linked to the unions. I thought at the time they were a bunch of old fogies ... not quite reactionaries but compromisers (I thought then!!). But we all still had respect for Don Edwards, an ETU full timer, and Bill Collins from the Paperworkers union. They were to be an important partnership for this Council.(1)

But I did become a delegate when I started work at Vickers in '65. Although a management trainee, I immediately joined the clerks’ union, the CAWU, then as  branch secretary was their delegate to the TC.  I remained a delegate to the Council when I became a full-time official in '68. I was now a member of the union’s Newcastle General Branch, a branch with links to the TC from 1908, and so I became aware of the strong connections ... but more of that later! I remained a delegate until the 1970s when I helped found the Gateshead & District Trades Council, as it left its Labour Party link. In fact my connection with the North East Labour History Society dates back to a speaker to the TC in 1969.  

I found when doing research for the Centenary Book for Newcastle General Branch of the clerk’s union in 2008, that branches, like trades councils, are ILL SERVED by Labour historians. Yet the action of TU branches and trades councils in their locality, their community, is the very essence of trade union history.  They are often missed in the overall study of trade unions or the TUC. The analysis is more often based around  work, industry, jobs, not community, local society or for that matter the state; the nature of the workers' role in society being related to the job, the industry, labour, not the workers as the community ... as a class if you like.

Marx observed back in 1844 that labour is outside the worker as a person, it isn't essential to his existence ... essential to his identity ... but the worker is only himself outside his work. At work he is merely a cog, labour is not his spontaneous activity, it belongs to another.(2)

This alienation activates the solidarity at work. It also recognises that this creates the two classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of production and finance, and the much larger proletariat (or 'working class') who must sell their labour power . The  conflict and relationship between them is often aided and abetted by the law. But further working class consciousness is not simply an awareness of this need for solidarity at work, it is also that society, your community, needs to organise legally, culturally, socially and indeed politically to address this alienation..

Trades councils have and now  continue to override this alienation by solidarity outside sectional, industrial, craft or sector interests. The struggle continues!!

So in putting together this presentation at short notice I have primarily drawn upon Clarke and McDermott, Centenary History of Newcastle & District Trades Council 1973 (and I’m sorry Terry was unable to be here tonight), my own book, Geordie Clerks Unite - Centenary History of Newcastle General Branch of the Clerks Union 2008, and my notes and diaries and the Centre for Employment Studies Research Working Paper No 10, an excellent source on trades councils.  Other sources came to hand as I, as usual, digressed from the matter in hand!(3)

It is well documented that the 19th century was an age of struggle. Chartism, Co-operatives, the rise of craft unions and Newcastle and the North East played a leading role in this radical upheaval. No doubt the strike of engineering workshops and shipyards on the Tyne & Wear in 1871 had such an effect when achieving the 9-hour day. Condemned by the trades union leaders, it proved nevertheless successful ... boilermakers  in Sunderland first, then extended to the Tyne and supported now by the unions. However it was still a movement dominated by the exclusive societies of skilled craftsmen, the aristocrats of labour.  They were not too happy with these TCs which had as delegates members of the 'new unions' - general workers, labourers, unskilled even some 'blackcoated workers' (what we now call white collar or office staff). The  snobbishness in the working class ... but it was changing at the grassroots!

Yet there would be no TUC without TCs.  It was Manchester Trades Council that called trade unions together to form the TUC in 1868. London Trades Council was to call it next, but not until I think 1871. In fact, until the turn of the century, there were TC delegates to the TUC and Congress was chaired by the local TC chair.

So it was in this period of change that Newcastle & District TC was formed in 1873 at the Flying Horse inn, Groat Market, on the 18 January 1873.

As the role of the trades council in the movement began to be accepted, it grew with affiliations . Maybe this was due to their participation in the broader movement ... the TUC.

J Laird, president of the TC, a tailor, is recorded as a delegate to the 1875 TUC.  In fact the Council played host on many occasions, the first in 1876 when Laird chaired the Congress. At the famed 1891 TUC held in Newcastle, W Flynn, an ILPer and a stone mason, chaired, but more of that later. By 1895, the TUC cut the TC  delegations ...in fact higher affiliation fees had reduced the number of delegates anyway. The last time for the Council to organise the TUC was in 1911: as trade unions grew in strength and became centralised, trades councils were no longer recognised as affiliates to TUC, replaced by delegations from established union rules. The TC role became very local ... the local arm of the movement! - where they started ...

Well, back to 1873. The TC, although just formed, immediately became involved in the preparation of the Extend the Manhood Sufferage Demonstration in Newcastle, with Atkinson chairing a platform on the Town Moor, a massive demo of 200,000 people ... arguments about absentee voters amongst workers resulting in failure to secure the election of radical candidates, of course (Liberals at that time), and demanding the vote for all adult men.  What is recorded in the TC Centenary History is the assistance given to workers in dispute, the organisation and struggle of labourers' unions, ... insisting that the Council was not a strike maker, but solidaristic support. Some interesting other items, noting unemployment, a call for the removal of systematic overtime and the benefits of emigration ?

At the turn of the decade, the TC had some success in assisting the labourers' unions to organise. In 1889 again the TC assisted labourers to organise with some success. This may be why the boilermakers, ostensibly the ones who oversaw the labourers, still were being instructed not to join. Yet by 1890, 38 societies (trade unions) had affiliated, representing,10,000 affiliated with 68 delegates

The 1890s was a decade when the TC was at the forefront of the changing situation, starting in 1891 when pressing to extend free eduction  and "felt justified in supporting the worker (TC) members of the Newcastle School Board in their endeavours to secure free education"  and seeking to control education matters by popularly elected boards, objecting to sectarian teaching and calling for a national system funded entirely from public funds.

Throughout there is support for the  Liberal Party. In fact TC members were now standing for local public office.  Of course they appear to have been following the Fabian society (1844 establ) line, the inevitability of gradualism school ... "permeating the Liberal Party with working-class ideals and members" - although there was a reticence to officially support local Liberal MPs and Councillors. It is further recorded that standing was affected by the inability to be available during the day. Nevertheless it is recorded that Laird was elected as a Liberal to the Newcastle local council. 

By the late 1800s it was recognised that political action was necessary to affect Parliamentary Bills; possibly this was pushed along by the meeting when Thomas Burt, the Northumbrian miners' leader and Liberal MP elected in 1874, discussed his Bill on Factory Inspection.  The TC established  a committee to extend support to worker candidates (no mention of a political party by name) and raise funds to do so, a Labour Representation Fund. 

Burt was clearly in favour of working within the Liberal Party and showed this at the 1891 Congress, which he co-chaired with Flynn, the new chair of the TC. Flynn, a stonemason, was a socialist and later an Independent Labour Party (ILP) activist. It must have given him a feeling of things changing when the arguments for an independent Labour Party were mooted at that Congress, held in the old Newcastle Town Hall in the Bigg Market. It was described, at the time, as the "rowdiest TUC of all time". Burt , like most trade union officials, was cautious and, it must be said, had a reticence not all rank-and-file members shared. Burt's biography (written in 1908) shows his response to these new elements. He said;

 " Let me pay my respect to the part called socialists. I do not know if they admit to that name. (Here there were socialist cheers.) I observe they accept it" .

He then went on to say he had socialist tendencies, but referred to

 " his experience ... as to what is practicable and what is not".(3)

But this must have been of tremendous excitement, this attempt to make a fundamental shift. With this in mind, there must have been really interesting TC meetings with Flynn, the socialist, elected in 1890 and Harris, a shipwright, an active Tory, elected in 1887, with a three-year lead over Flynn. You can imagine the tension, particularly  considering what must have been the political discussions of the time. Even though the TC continued its " no political party advocacy" stance. Both were elected  local Councillors in 1891, Harris in Newcastle, Flynn in Gateshead.

Meanwhile, at what we would now call a fringe meeting, at the 1892 Congress  a call was issued for a meeting of supporters of an independent labour political party. About the same time in Newcastle a storm was brewing in the TC on a political issue. Harris had appeared on a Tory platform in Hull, introduced as the TC secretary. Hull TC protested and Newcastle TC agreed, which forced Harris to resign. During the discourse it was further pointed out, probably by Harris's supporters, that Flynn had spoken in support of the Labour Representative candidate in Jarrow! But Flynn said that he had acted in a personal capacity , and had so advised. This was accepted ... nothing changes, how many times leadership progressives in the movement  have used the phrase "in a personal capacity"! However, this resulted in the disaffiliation by Harris's branch and some others (but it is believed they came back into the fold) ... probably misplaced craft solidarity. In fact so did a National Union of Amalgamated Labourers' branch disaffiliate ... but this was later said to have been done in error!!

As we know, the following year, 1893, the ILP was formed in Bradford, with support from across Britain, and MP Keir Hardie was elected its first chairman.

The TC Centenary book outlines further the support given to those taking industrial action.  A most interesting support was to assist the critical action regarding women working in the lead factory ... "12 hours a day in files of deadly poison".  It's not known whether this resulted in any changes, but the Council had helped produce a document  "white slaves of England". This campaigning on health and safety issues has been a continuous action of the Council.

As the decade ended the council represented 7439 workers , the major weakness still the absence of boilermakers and miners, and the ASE lack of  official support. The council was now an acknowledged  local body, with it's own Trade Hall, Councillors, solidarity support recognised  and participation in local politics.

At the commencement of the next decade, the establishing of the Labour Representation Committee, LRC, representing many  trade unions, working-class and left-wing organisations, must have had an effect on the Council . This participation, without committing to 'Party politics' , is put into perspective  by the questionnaire produced by the Council for the 1900 General Electio, the so called Khaki Election, held during the 2nd Boer War.  These questions were put to many of the prospective parliamentary candidates and show quite clearly the shift in their political stance.

It's not the purpose of this presentation to consider the outcome or in fact the undemocratic nature of these elections, other than to note that the Tories were elected with Lord Salisbury the PM, but  more particularly two Labour Representation Committee MPs entered the Parliament - Hardie and Richard Bell.  This, the end of the Victorian era, was the beginning of a political shift.

The situation in 1901 changed everything by what our history recalls as the Taft Vale case, a dispute between railway workers and the railway company. The Government (from the House of Lords) declared at the end of the strike that the union pay exorbitant damages to the company. This  effectively made strikes illegal, with union funds liable to damages for industrial action. The indifference shown by the Liberal Party removed any belief that radical progress would be made through that party. This was a boost for the LRC. In fact it is recorded that the TC in 1902 urged local trades unions to affiliate to their local LRC group. Although there is no record of trades councils' attendance, the LRC Conference held in the Co-operative Hall, Newcastle in 1903, which had all major unions, except the miners, and socialist groups represented, must have created an atmosphere of  progress with activists in the locality.

The council now saw further unions joining ... including some Boilermaker branches and official support by the ASE. Furthermore the non-craft unions were added to by the black-coated workers, what we now would call non-manual workers, the Railway Clerks, joining their fellow workers in the Railway Servants Union, the insurance agents union, shop assistants, musicians and, in 1908, my union, the National Union of Clerks, NUC, the Newcastle & Gateshead Branch.

In researching for the the union Branch Centenary book, I was able to interview an old comrade, the late Harold Miller, a clerk at the CWS Blandford Street, Newcastle (now the Discovery Museum), who joined the branch in 1915, aged (possibly) 14 years. He was able to tell me about, not only the union's past, but also this TC. This short vignette, from that book, shows just how this TC assisted workers' groups to organise.

" ..the circumstances at this the commencement of the 20th century, these pioneers in their ' yneside Clerks Committee' , would no  doubt be involved. The rades Council records support from non-organised trade unionists and their Annual Report of 1907-8  amongst its objectives,

'....to foster and encourage existing societies in trades or occupations not already organised: to render assistance , where desired , ....'

So it was probably with a prod from Newcastle Trades Council , that this group,of clerks registered as a Branch (of the NUC) in 1908."

Miller, who was himself a delegate to the trades council in the '20s and '30s, could remember John Lindsley, who played an important national role in the early days of my union, and was president of the Council from 1914 -15 as a "little unconventional ... long top coats, big brimmed hat and no socks!!"  But interestingly he pointed to how in those early days of the twentieth century, the trades council was involved in many campaigns  and industrial disputes and that Lindsley "attending daytime and evening meetings, marching and speaking at demonstrations, sometimes all on the same day."

With the Liberals in Government after 1906 and a rump Labour Party group of MPs, 28 elected, alongside the Lib/Lab working-class MPs, the Taff Vale judgement was removed and trade unions resumed their ability to take strike action if all negotiations failed. Terry McDermott records fully in the Council's Centenary history book the industrial disputes of the first two decades, not only on issues of wages and conditions - even when they were unofficial - but also when a union was seeking recognition.  On this recognition issue, trade union rivalry for members and the ongoing craft versus unskilled issue raised its head, but it seems the trades council acted as place where the grass roots could find a "place where some progress towards common policies could be sought".

Unemployment  was, as always,  a concern and in 1912 unions, particularly the craft unions, raised resolutions protesting at the employment of women although Miller recalled that the TC had supported (possibly the ILP supporters), the National Women's Suffrage Pilgrimage to London Northeast contingent from Newcastle, in 1914. So things were changing. The TC Centenary history also records that in 1916 the council passed an equality resolution at their Conference called to consider the situation that might prevail after the War. This sought the same wages  and rights for men and women, noting the emergency employment of more women and refugee workers. The motion was seconded by the Ironfounders delegate, Laraman, who was to play a significant role a decade later in the General Strike, but more of that later.

There is little recorded about the Council's attitude to the First World War, only industrial matters.  However what is noted is that Wilkinson, the secretary from 1895, retired in 1918. He was seemingly also very right-wing, not a Tory like Harris, but solidly against politics with a capital P being involved in the TC. What was it with these secretaries?  Obviously it changed, as with present officeholders present and, I must add, seeing Steve Manchee in the meeting tonight, a past secretary, and in fact those others in my memory. In fact, after Wilkinson, who was the last link to the Council's Victorian past, the Council would always be identified with all progressive and radical issues and led by exceptional officers.

The Council continued to play its part in local education and local politics, even during the difficult times that followed..

With time constraints, I will move into the 1920s by making only a general reference to the industrial depression ... the post-war boom was over. Unemployment raged: the North East, with the market for its basic industries having disappeared, was in a disastrous position. The miners' defeat in 1921 (the mines had been handed back to the owners in 1921) was followed by the defeat of the unions' actions in engineering 1921 and shipbuilding 1923. All attempts to protect wages and conditions were under threat.The union membership nationally plummeted and the Council was dramatically affected - only 11 branches from 9 unions now affiliated representing only 3,000. An unemployed members' committee was keeping contact with grassroot activists who had lost their jobs. The solidarity and action by unions in the face of this continued, but as long as anyone relates historic details of British trades unionism, the year 1926 will stand out in bold relief: the General Strike.

I'm sure that delegates here today have read the many books and documents about, and know about the General Strike, caused by the pit owners enforcing wage cuts and serving lock-out notices on the miners. It's not within the compass of this presentation to make any awareness of the suffering in mining communities, nor their grievance, suffice to say that in County Durham there was talk of cutting wages by 50%. It should also be remembered that the Prime Minister had further stated that all wages should be reduced!

On 4 May the TC joined with Gateshead Labour Party & Trades Council and 14 trade unions to form a Joint Strike Committee to cover Northumberland and Durham; and in the evening called a special delegates' meeting to include other labour organisations in the city. Laraman, now President of the TC, outlined the purpose -TO SET UP A NEWCASTLE COUNCIL OF ACTION. Laraman also took on the responsibility of producing the Council's news sheet, The Workers' Chronicle. This was essential as the TUC's paper wasn't available in Newcastle until 11 May. 

Reading through the account in the TC's centenary book, 6 pages, it shows the extent to which the officers of the Council identified the miners' struggle as that of all workers. Some of the statements signify the time ... to distribute the Manifesto to Newcastle Workers

"all delegates to the trades council must get into immediate touch with the secretary, BRING YOUR CYCLES ALONG! STAND FIRM , WE ARE WINNING"

Others leave nothing to the imagination !! However this is a favourite and I quote..

" In spite of the fact that their EC has ordered a stoppage there are still 500 men scabbing at the Alkali Chemical Co. It appears they need gentle persuasion. What about a mass picket!" [see Appendix A]

The General Strike ended after 9 days, called off by the TUC General Council, the miners staying out for a further 6 months and ending in defeat. There are many accounts, research, books and local studies of the Strike and time doesn't allow me to discuss the issues, other than to note, the TC had now increased membership by delegates from 64 branches with many new affiliations.  By the start of the 1930s this had increased to 72 branches from 29 unions representing 14,000 plus workers. This was to be a high point as the next decade was blighted by high unemployment.

The thirties saw the TC establishing an Unemployed Workers Association, having an unofficial fund to send donation to the Hunger Marches, unofficial because the TUC declared them to be communist front organisations. Miller (himself quite right-wing) recalled that everyone knew who were communists, and supported the causes rather than organisers. That's probably why the TC ignored the TUC instruction to exclude communists from being delegates. In face of this unemployment, the TC passed a resolution calling for the restriction of overtime. It was in this period that the draughtsmen union affiliated, the AESD.

The TC annual report 1933/34 notes that in their attempt to organise against fascism they were getting  ittle cooperation from Labour  Party and others, adding "although fascism may seem small we must not be silent". So, not surprisingly, they campaigned for support for the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, paying tribute "to our Spanish Comrades in their great fight against fascism" and hoping for the success of the goverment forces against Franco, supporting and noting the  repairing of vehicles by engineering workers for the Spanish Medical Aid Committee.  The TC also took part in organising the 1939 Conference in the City Hall to protest against the Government's policy of non-intervention.  Anti-fascism was a constant topic, with support given to marches and demos against the domestic fascism of the Moselyites. A speaker on German fascism raised the awareness of what was to come.

The end of the Thirties, and a new decade, opened with the country at war with the fascism of Germany and the Axis, Italy and Japan. During the Second World War the Council gave  active support to the productivity committees and now came in contact with the growing strength of the shop stewards' committees - rather than the TU branches.

Billy Little of the NUR was elected President in 1943 and was to remain so until 1965, when Don Edwards, electricians union, took over. Don Edwards had  become Secretary in 1948, so the two of them held the two main offices for 17 years. They were recognised across the movement as the authentic voice of grass roots of trades unionism. Another colleague of my union, the late Ian Black, was a delegate to the Council during the war and noted the discussions revolved around TC Officers meetings with the Labour Exchange, as employers were obliged to take on workers through the latter "or through an approved union". The regulations that banned strikes and employers lock-outs were regularly questioned. He recalled the unofficial support of brief strikes over conditions brought a hostile reactions not only from the TUC and officials, but also "quite a few  from lefties".

TU membership increased  and this was reflected in the growth in the Council. Another issue was the Beveridge Report and more domestic issues like the all-night bus service for workers.

An interesting item to note recorded in 1945 was the Executive meeting on the evening the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, some thought the end to all war, but the conclusion seemed to be doubt, as it had been used twice ... this nuclear disarmament ethos  lasted from that date onward.

The Council was, with some exceptions, left-wing in its approach and support, to the extent that the TUC sent the General Secretary and a colleague to meet in an attempt to dissuade the Council from supporting certain organisations, usually those that had prominent Communists in their leadership. Anyway, not long after that the TUC instituted a list of bans and proscriptions. As Ian Bell put it, the list was generally ignored as far as delegates were concerned, organisations and campaigns were supported (by the good old!) "in a personal capacity" by officers reflecting the Council's views.

The election of a Labour Government after the war gave impetus to the TC participation in local civic matters, trade unions seen more and more as the fourth estate. Issues discussed would obviously have touched on nationalisation, health service and welfare, although I did not research that enough.  Another point of interest is in 1946 the establishing of a women's organising committee, which was extraordinary as not only TU women's groups but also other working class bodies such as the Co-operative Women's Guild and Labour Party Women's Sections sat alongside the women delegates to the Council.  

As the 1940s ended, the Council had seen a decade of growth, support for organising, the usual support for those in dispute and more involvement in local and regional governance. Two conference organised by the TC concluded this decade: one on Anti-Racialism and the other a major conference on unemployment at the Connaught Hall (4), Newcastle, with a platform of MPs (even the Tory, first and  last time !) the CSEU chair, and the Regional Board for Industry.

With the 1950s, the Tories were back in government. The Council was now at the forefront of activity on community matters -advocating local health centres, arguing against high fares and particularly the exorbitant compensation paid to the former owners of the railways, campaigning against slum housing and considering education matters brought to their attention by the representatives on committees ... first mention of comprehensives! Its representatives were reporting on the Local Pensions Committee and the Disablement Advisory Association, local matters and United Nations Association, the Anti-Colonial Group (later known as the Movement for Colonial Freedom), and it was affiliated  to the National Council of Labour Colleges, the National Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty) and the WEA. The AGM Reports were showing the activity and representative role of the Council on a broad range of issues, whilst still recording the meetings and assisting workers in industrial relations struggles.

The Council became estranged from Newcastle Labour Party, the  latter refusing or neglecting to invite a fraternal representative to their AGM  because of the TC's acceptance of proscribed( by the LP) organisations . But the TC invited and had a fraternal rep from the Labour Party. There  was a bad enough problem with the proscription list of the TUC, especially attempting to ban union delegates who were Communists. Interestingly, the late Horace Green had come to the North East as the Communist Party's District Secretary in the 1950s; and even though his own union, the clerks union, disallowed Communists from being delegates, he was welcomed as a "regular visitor" and allowed to contribute and speak, but of course not vote ... as he wasn't a delegate from his union. This lasted right up to the late 1970s; though the TUC had lifted bans and proscriptions in the late 1950s, his union had not! Even so, he was awarded the Tom Aisbitt Award by the Council for services to the labour movement.  Horace had the support of a leading figure in the NE Labour Movement, Dave Atkinson of  the Post Office Workers, stalwart of the Trades Council and a mentor to many activists. I remember his advice to me, at one of Horace's socials, after I had been appointed a full-time official of the clerks union.Tha was much later, in 1968. Time doesn't allow and I'm sure other comrades have more memories of Dave's service of over 30 years to the Council.

Back to the fifties!!

Even the TUC had a go at the Council when they invited a British Peace Committee speaker in the first year . It didn't appear on their proscriptions list, the Council argued.

By the mid 1950s links with LP were renewed , and a major innovation was a change to the May Day March and /or meetings of the past.  After meetings with the LP, Co-op party, trades unions and the Trades Council it was agreed that the May Day demonstration would be Labour Gala Day, with bands, banners and floats . It was further agreed to form a May Day Committee of these organisations. And in 1955 the first was held: starting at the Newcastle Central Station at 3.00 pm, it proceeded through the centre of Newcastle to the Meeting in the City Hall, with National TUC and Labour Party and local TC and Co-op speakers. The first meeting had Nye Bevan as the main speaker [see Appendix B]. By the late 1950s it had become a part of the City's Calendar, and in 1958 I marched with the Trades Council - as did the rest of CND. It had become large indeed, as I recorded in my diary for 1959. Interestingly we youngsters, in 1963, were "allowed" to distribute the allegedly illegal "Spies for Peace”  leaflets on the march: not quite given permission but ... well, that's another story.

Marching with the Trades Council was due to their stance on the Peace theme. As early as 1954, from an Association of Scientific Workers' motion calling for the banning of the Bomb, the Council corresponded with Newcastle Council requesting they scrap civil defence regarding H bomb attacks . Then in 1958, from a Draughtsmen's' union motion, the Council pledged support for and joined CND - and on this subject kept receiving TUC letters until TUC policy change in 1960.

Other issues included: the refusal of passport for Paul Robeson by US government, resulting in letters to the Embassy, even to the US President, with correspondence back and forth with the ambassador; the campaign against the British government's Suez  military adventure; a debate on the USSR's invasion of Hungary; South Africa and anti-apartheid with a collection for the South  Africa Trial Defence Fund; a conference with the Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF, now Liberation)), " Colonies into Commonwealth"; and acceptance of a motion on the abolition of capital punishment, which the Council returned to in the 1960s. But more local issues also played a significant part of the debates and campaigns: action against cuts in the city transport service, protest meetings against the Rent Act, an external speaker on the cancer campaigns and taking an industrial injuries tribunal issue to the relevant Advisory Committee, with a recorded success. An attempt to establish a Trades Council Centre like the Trades Hall of the past, was to take up time and funds, right through to 1961, but led to nowhere.

The sixties saw the council again in problems with the TUC, this time over its support for the League of Democracy in Greece, having sent a donation they were to request a speaker. The TUC instructed against this and the Executive of the Council reconsidered and agreed to comply. So they invited Betty Ambatielos, the secretary of the League, in her personal capacity, to give a personal insight into the situation which saw her husband, Tony, jailed for trades union activity. Tony (Antonis), the  Communist leader of the Greek seamen's union, had been a member of the Greek resistance movement during the War and then a refugee here. Returning to Greece after the war, he was jailed with British occupation forces' collusion. The Greek working class were again under attack so the Council past a motion of support. They returned to the issue in 1963 with the visit of the Greek royals, attending the demonstration in London.

Don Edwards, as a full-time officer of the ETU, had to resign as secretary of the council when his union was suspended from the TUC due to the ballot-rigging issue in 1961.  He attended in a personal capacity, but the TUC circular suspending delegates was ignored and the Council still accepted ETU branches' delegates. Noted affiliations at the time were the MCF and Anti-Apartheid . 

Action against  the fascists was stepped up: when it was suggested that Mosley was to hold a meeting in Newcastle, the TC protested and had the support of Councillors. They were told however that there was nothing that could be done. A demo was being planned when he decided not to come - to the disappointment of some comrades. Another issue taken up by the Council was the demise of the National Council of Labour Colleges, the NCLC, in 1963.  A number of unions had supported the TUC taking over its role. The Trades Council feared the NCLC's "belief that labour has a contribution to make which is distinctive in education as it is in the field of industry and politics, if a new social order is to be established " and - unlike the WEA, the other educational agency the Council was affiliated to - its rigid independence from State funding and State interference ... and "teaching with a bias towards Socialism" would now be lost! They were right. I remember the Council protesting to the TUC about the deletion of Marxist economics from subjects In fact eventually, in 1964 when the TUC established its own Education Department, it wound up the NCLC and the "distinctive education"!

I could go on about the NCLC. I was involved with it from 1960 - but time doesn't allow.

Other  items reported in '63 the Unemployment Demo in London , delegates reported the disgraceful police action and  support for DATA recognition dispute at Parsons

Parsons.

1964 saw the return of a Labour Government , Wilson the Prime Minister. More important, having just started at Vickers , I became the staff union , CAWU, branch delegate to the Newcastle Trades Council...just in time for the discussion and agreement to hold  a Trades  Union Exhibition and Arts Festival. This was to be  an amazing achievements  : supported by the local Federation of  Trades Council and trades unions and the North East Assoc. for the Arts..to which the Council was a founding affiliate..it was held in 1965,  8-18th July with an impressive exhibition of 55 union stands dealing with their history and activities in the old Town Hall in the Bigg Market, Art in the Laing art Gallery, jazz in Balmbra's Music Hall, big bands and city (Northern Sinfonia) orchestra in the City Hall , a play at the Little Theatre in Gateshead even a special service in St. Nicholas Cathedral... alongside poetry readings ..the exhibition was opened by Jennie Lee , minister of Education ..she wrote to the Council..

 "we must get away from old poverty conditioned attitudes that the best in the arts are beyond the reach of the average workers and their family. For painters and poets, playwrights and musicians, deserve a wider audience than in the recent past . I am glad you are giving them-and yourselves -this wonderful opportunity"

 (see Appendix C)

It left the Council with a substantial deficit, so amongst the praises , especially to Tom Dargon  of the Sign & Display Union the organiser along with the Sub committee, was a call to be careful about costs in future!!

Also in 1964 , Industrial Tribunals were created by the Industrial Training Act 1964. Industrial Tribunals , consisting of a lawyer, who was the chairman, an individual nominated by an employer association, and another by the Trades Council or a  union. The Council had representatives who served well on this. They have changed over time and it's not part of this presentation to look into this, other than to say the whole area of unfair dismissal has since shifted to benefit the employer( in my opinion!).

One interesting move was taking the issue of youth employment, the council assist in an  establishing an apprentice training centre in premises owned by the City Council under the guidance of retired apprentices instructor from Parsons. It didn't last too long as an effort , but created the emphasis for more apprenticeships.

In 1965 saw the council condemning the Lab Gov for its support of US aggression in Vietnam and had a group distribute leaflets in Newcastle. The council being a signatory to the  Medical Aid to Vietnam Appeal..and a welcome to the abolition of capital Punishment, a subject discussed on many occasions in the past.

The National Union of Seamen's strike in 1966 , with this having a big effect in the  NorthEast, so inevitably the Council was involved in various forms of support: collections, at the pickets and receiving reports. One report was from the NUR about steps taken locally to block attempts to move coal by rail. Furthermore the  "red bogey" statement by Wilson , the Prime Minister not only in Parliament , but on television,  that the NUS strike was being prolonged by " a tightly knit group of politically motivated men"  , by communists, was treated with incredulity and contempt by the delegates. Many members knew the local official, Jim Slater, left wing member of the Labour Party ( later Gen.Sec. of the NUS , 1974-86) and other activists who were , yes members of the Communist Party , Labour Party and no Party ,like all industrial disputes . The strike ended on 3 July, but the final settlement was beyond the limits of the 3.5% incomes policy.

Closer to home, the TC helped in achieving success in a dispute , which stopped the  Contracting out cleaning of Govt. offices with  TC support of CSU , brought a message of thanks by the local lay executive member of the Civil Service Union, Margaret Morrison.More locally, reports were received from the Tenants action committee regarding rent increases and need for action. On a broader front discussion on the Northern Economic Planning Council " The Challenge of a Changing North" was led by  Bill Collins , the secretary who represented the TC on the NEPC. At the finish nothing came of this attempt at regionalism. One other decision was to abandon the May Day parade replaced with a meeting. This was more due to the reducing support from others , than it was the Council.

TUC' s Centenary was acknowledged  by a brass band concert and delegates going to Manchester for Celebrations. Becoming a full time official I left Vickers and also lost the branch delegated position to the Council as I was now in the Newcastle General Branch of the Union. But back as a delegate after only 6 months as there delegate( with a lovely welcome back letter from the secretary Bill Collins). Not that I had missed anything as the Council was very involved with the Tyneside Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD)  and particularly the  demo in '68 in response to the infamous  Enoch Powell's racist speech. CARD was to play an important role ( not only here but across Britain) in developing the racial equality agencies.

As the sixties came to an end , the TU movement was faced with Labour Govt IR policy proposals...the White Paper, "In Place of Strife" in 1969. Some of the proposals were an anathema , against the discussions held with the TUC and their submissions to the Donovan Commission in 1968. So when Barbara Castle, the Employment Minister, was to be the Speaker at a Rally at the City Hall in 1969, the County Assoc. of Trades Councils (CATC) agreed , supported by the TC to listen to her ...in silence....On the day , the late Les Allen, AEU, who many here remember, the CATC representative was sitting on the stage...directly behind her, on his knee he had , what appeared to be a folder of some sort. As she presented her speech, he proceeded to open the folder at certain points...the folder opened read..for all to see..." I DISAGREE!". The applause at the end of her speech was light , with most of the audience ( trades union, Labour Party and Co-operators) sitting quiet. After the Rally, delegates to the Council whilst welcoming the action of the CATC  raised complaints about what appeared to be vetting of people by stewards , which had never happened in the past..the meetings were always open.

 In this final period the council supported nurses action, proposals on thebNorthern Arts Assoc., campaign against the South African Rugby team visit to Gosforth and further meetings on Unemployment ....but there was to be a return to a Tory Govt. under Ted Heath in 1970.

The Seventies was a very active period for the labour movement and the TC.It started with the action against what was initially the Industrial Relations (IR) Bill...the slogan call of KILL THE BILL rang out from many demos...and the huge demo in London in February 1971 with many from the NorthEast participating .Two months later the NE demo,   with the TC banner prominent , marching from Saltwell Park to the Town Moor.

This was the main issue of discussion at meetings of the TC when it become an Act , the IR Act in 1971. The problems that this Act gave for trade unionism is well documented, legally enforceable agreements , arresting stewards,,,the Pentonville Five .. and their release ..

In 1973 to demonstrate against the Govt Statutory  pay policy and the vetting agency the Pay Board... industrial relations policies legislation... the TUC called for a working day of action on Tuesday 1st May 1973.. a Day of protest but a personal choice of individual workers to avoid confrontation with the IR Act. The TC  in conjunction with the Tyne & Blyth CSEU held meetings , leafleting and letters to the press and on the day, a working day, the vast majority of workers, staff and manual , walked out! Trades Council rallies were held in Sunderland , Durham and a major rally Newcastle..with the TC organising.

This period also witnessed a new form of industrial action at Upper Clyde Shipyard in Scotland, the occupation of the place of work. Here in the North East we saw one at Parsons and another at Coles Cranes, which created discussion on workers' action, workers' control. There were also issues debated on Northern Ireland, with a visit from Belfast Trades Council, and the Council reciprocating by sending a delegation there also, and supporting the Irish Democrat Consultative Conference, with Gordon Steele, TC Secretary, a signatory.  The TC supported the 1971 postal strike, nurses' action and the miners' strike in 1972. It signed the Anti-Nazi League Founding Statement, with the new secretary, Colin Randall, chairing a meeting in 1973 (Appendix D), opposed the Common Market, and supported a demo against the South African cricket team visit - the struggle continues!!  The Centenary was celebrated by an AGM with many reminiscing, Paul Foot as the Speaker, and the Hostory commissioned from Terry McDemott and his colleague J.F. Clarke.

I was glad to go to the Bridge Hotel, for a celebratory drink with comrades, although I was no longer a delegate, having been part of the group that formed Gateshead & District Trades Council, after the Labour Party link was ended by the TUC, becoming its secretary.

1973 ended with the Council again supporting the miners in their strike (ballot of  81% for action). Prime minister Edward Heath called an election, but lost and in February 1974 Labour returned to government.. What a way to end 100 years!

By the mid seventies,two factors had an effect on the TC: the Community Development Projects programme and the Regional TUC.

The former, a govt. funded action-research project was  set up to  gather information on local social policies and encourage social action to achieve better  response to  local services . With an established number on Tyneside  it was inevitable that this small group of paid workers , mainly young, would be radical ( or radicalised) and link to the labour movement . Many became active in the  TCs creating a  stronger link between the struggles in the workplace and those of the neighbourhood and community. Of course this assisted in better influencing decision made  on a city-wide basis. However by the late 1970s , the Home Office wound up the scheme , the project wasn't acting as the buffer on dissent, I  think!! TCs, and particularly Newcastle, had influenced  the political awareness of these community workers  and they brought new insight into the TC. The spin off from this was the establishing of,the Socialist Centre, agitprop theatre groups , political bookshops to add to the Communist Party's People's Bookshop, and of course the NE Trades Union Studies Information Unit, TUSIU. On the latter, the TUC at national level attempted to stop the TC and Unions using TUSIU.So through the Council a support campaign was mounted and got the assistance from left and right ( including my right wing General Secretary) and the TUC backed off!(Appendix E). It was an interesting period the  '70s.  but that's  another story.

The other was to be a change to the Regional Machinery of the TUC. The only previous regional body was the TUC Regional Advisory Committee, I remember it well;  an undemocratic , bureaucratic, full- time officers club!  Anyway, 8 Regional TUCs were set up across the country in 1973, with a full-time Regional Secretary and eventually staff. The composition of the Council was  union senior regional officers and delegations based on local membership, plus the CATC  with 25% of be seats , it meant each trades council had representation. In fact , as my regional secretary was my union's only delegate ( due to small membership), I got on through the CATC and then onto the Regional Executive. If it was set up by the TUC Establishments because of anxiety about the left wing influence in  trades councils on local issues, as some studies have suggested, their involvement has been recognised as being important in keeping a close link to the grass roots, in my opinion! Newcastle TCs involvement in the regional TUC was , and I'm sure is still, of great benefit to the Movement

The issues at theTC  now covered the European referendum , the Social Contract : the legislation on .. Health & Safety, ..Equal Pay....redundancy Payments...ACAS...with speakers from the agencies and documents from TUSIU to assist : shipbuilding nationalisation with a speaker from the shop stewards committee...but closer to me was the support given to the Grunwick strike in London , picketing throughout 1976 -78 and particularly from your secretary at the time, Colin Randall. My union had taken the unprecedented step of taking into membership non union members already on strike..young Asian workers , mainly women. They had been initially supported not surprisingly  by, yes a trades council, Brent TC .It was an historical struggle , but this is not the place to outline the reasons for the defeat it's well documented , but to show the significant support of Newcastle Trades Council, I well recall the cover photograph of  the WORKERS CHRONICLE FRONT PAGE  :- a lone Colin Randall surrounded by hordes of police ... with the caption Trades Council Secretary attacks the Police! This was the Special Patrol Group, the SPG , using methods we were to see again employed in the Miners Strike 1984 -5. The TC officers and members were there on a number of occasions and at the big demo ( 20,000)in the  afternoon July 11th 1977, having spent the late morning on the picket. To get to the picket in a mini bus , very early morning , returning very late evening !! Or the help given by the TC officers,  when the post office workers convenor from London came up to the Tyneside Sorting Office to get support , successfully, in blacking Grunwick post from the local postal workers...it was a postal photograph developer company. (5)

The late seventies saw trade union action to get their benefit from the drop in inflation , balance of payments in surplus ..economy growth...resulting in a  media assault on unions...nevertheless the TC support both locally and outside the region  was recognised by shop stewards and this resulted in affiliations. One significant action in which the TC mobilised  local union support was the 1977-78 Fire Brigade Union STRIKE ..resulting in the organising along with the Regional TUC a major  march in Newcastle.(Appendix F)

Also in 1977 the TC enabled funding to set up the Centre Against Unemployment, the first of such centres in Britain, and I believe for a time , with TUSIU , was in the NUPE  offices until the mid 1980s..but more of that later.

With the advent of Information Technology, the computer, microtechnology raising  many questions ..employment ..health ..the TC organised a Conference called 'The New Industrial Revolution" , 1978..October. I remember it as, along with Tony Benn, a minister at the time, I was also a speaker. The Curtis Auditorium at Newcastle University was packed! Benn outlining his "alternative economic strategy" and I , "Technology Agreements" with support from others in the audience: the NGA from Fleet Street and Lucas Combine Committee..the TC was ahead of most unions on this issue.

As the seventies ends , there are 12.6m. trade unionists, and the Labour govt under Callaghan, was pushing  a pay norm of 5% ..lower than inflation ..private sector gained increases but the public services were held to the norm...resulting in a dispute. It's not the place here.. And I haven't the time to outline why the election resulted in the Tories winning ...or the effect of the so called "winter of discontent " other than to say the TC supported the public services workers ..at pickets and collections . The media went into hysterics , attacking what they termed union power!! What must be recorded is that the Tories were led by Thatcher and a new era of anti trades unionism started.

But the seventies was a strong period for the TC. Steve ( Manchee), who the President is to call to speak later,  will remember this period and as he was Secretary from 1979 until the late '80s, also  the difficulties of organisation under Thatcher. Long service by officers  to the TC is also shown by the dedication of Alan Lubbock , Treasurer since 1983 to the present.

However, the eighties  into the nineties was to see the unions under sustained attack, weakened by the manufacturing industry in decline, by 1982 inflation at18.6%  and 3million unemployed . During this recession , the unions were haemorrhaging members, the trades Council however appeared to maintain its delegation strength:  some delegates were redundant workers.

Discussion and campaigns in the early '80s naturally were on the subject of redundancies, particularly the legislative attack by Tebbit , Thatcher's Employment Minister,  and the regulating of trade unions whilst the deregulation of the finance sector.  It is important to note , that in these difficult times,  the TC not only continued it's support of the Centre Against Unemployment, but was able to purchase the  old Tailor & Garment Workers Union area offices in the Cloth Market. The funds for the purchase and establishing trusteeship is down to Steve Manchee, Alan Lubbock and two stalwarts of the TC who are now deceased, Dave Atkinson and Ron Taylor.   Apart from the steel strike in 1980, the civil service dispute, which involved the TC supporting Pickets at Longbenton, and the health service disputes, the TC was caught up in the most  significant turning point in the history of the trade union movement and  industrial relations  which took place in the mid 1980s.  There were two strikes for which this decade will be remembered : the miners' strike 1984-85 and the Wapping print dispute 1985-6. The repercussion of these 2 are felt even today.

I'm sure I needn't tell comrades about the issues surrounding the miners strike...the effects of the TU Act 1984..on strike balloting ...sequestration of funds..miners families with no income not entitled to benefits, no free school meals ,uniforms.. the Tory Government was determined to win at whatever cost.The TC was involved in the fund raising to buy food & clothing  vouchers ..many delegates we're involved in support efforts, especially with the Womens Support Groups.After this year long dispute , which had been fought with bitterness...the power of the state applied ruthlessly against the miners...the action of the police...  and against their families... the drift back to work by a few ...the strike ended. The subsequent effect was the closure of all the pits ...the communities will neither forget nor forgive.

The other happened in London in 1986. Rupert Murdoch, new owner of News International, including The Sun, News of the World etc, had sacked his workforce, before moving from Fleet Street to new premises in Wapping, the old London Docklands, with new technology, offering to take the workers back on new unnegotiated contracts of employment. When the print unions announced a strike, he opened the plant with the assistance of the right wing EETPU. Although some NUJ members accepted the new contracts, all unions supported the action, and many NUJ members accepted this advice and refused to go to Wapping. During the dispute they became known as the ‘refuseniks’. A speaker came to the Trades Council and support was given, including a collection and a call to boycott the four newspapers involved, although the TC once again had a dilemma, with the EETPU being suspended and then excluded from the TUC, placing electrician delegates outside the affiliation. There was strong government support for Murdoch, and the strike eventually collapsed in February 1987, with thousands of workers having gone for over a year without jobs or pay. The effects of that: well, we've seen what Murdoch and his newspapers stand for!!! But also trade union organisation was affected, with the boost given to Thatcher's anti-union regulations drive that we now live with!

President, we agreed that there would be comrades here who will be able to relate memories of the next three decades - the 1990s through to today - and anyway maybe I've spoken too long. My defence on this is that Terry and Nigel Todd were unable to add their presentations, but you did send me notes culled from minutes. This showed the continuing support for workers in struggle, campaigns on public spending cuts, a joint Trades Councils Conference on the Welfare State, and of course the Anti-Poll Tax Campaign in the late 1980s. President it's déjà vu - here we are again fighting to save the welfare state.

There was also action on disability and pensions, with a special subcommittee on the latter. You mentioned the late Terry Rogers, MSF, by this time a retired Parsons draughtsman, who was the main campaigner with regard to this subcommittee. I remember Terry as a formidable workplace representative and of course in the formation of the Anti-Nazi League! And chair, here you have a long list of speakers from diverse radical and progressive campaigns.

And, of course, internationalism, peace and the environment have continued to be, for the TC, of the essence: Anti-Apartheid, links with Trades Councils in Derry and Newcastle New South Wales, aid to Bosnia, the Stop the War Campaign, continuing your links to TUCND, Palestine Solidarity ... and many more. Your list, president, shows also the cultural and social dimension, and not only the annual May Day Demo.

However I'm continuing, when I should be concluding...

So, in conclusion as they say!!

With the level of unemployment, the attack on trade unions by successive governments, decline of sectors in which trade unionism was strong, it is no wonder that the number of trades councils, 418 in 1982, declined to 138 in 2002. (6) But I recall that, just before I retired as a trades union official, the TUC (mid-1990s) called on unions to set up an officer to liaise with Trades Union Councils, and advocated attempts to rejuvenate the movement. Research doesn't show a lot of progress on this. However the unions are still the largest democratic civil society organisation with 7m members (50%public, 25% private sector). So, president, in this 21st century, Newcastle upon Tyne Trades Union Council is mirroring the Council of 1873 in a modern context. At that first meeting in the Flying Horse pub, Gibson and Atkinson pushed membership delegations from the relatively privileged skill-based unions to assist and welcome the largely unorganised unskilled, staff workers, women ...the New Unionism. We need a New Unionism today that focuses on the fragmented service sector. Like your predecessors, you are forming coalition with community groups, communities affected by the cuts, Tory austerity which benefits the rich. The working class, labour, is different from then, but it's still labour. The working class organised then to defend its interests and demanded to be listened, to force concessions from the rich and powerful - we will do so again. The history and present of Newcastle Trades Union Council is part of that heritage, tradition and continues. As the banners proclaim:-

                    THE PAST WE INHERIT, THE FUTURE WE BUILD

NOTES.

(1) Throughout these notes I have used the initials TC, or the term Council  to mean Newcastle Trades Council

(2) Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, 1844

(3) Graham Taylor & Andy Mathers, Organising Unions, Organising Communities? Trades Union Councils & Community Union Politics in England & Wales, Centre for Employment Studies Research, Bristol Business School, Working Paper10, 2008: a good study of trades union councils.

(4) Demolished to make way for new Eldon Square shopping centre.

(5) Jack Dromey and Graham Taylor, Lawrence & Wishart. London.

(6) Labour Research May 2003: Getting back to the Community.

 

 

 

appendix a

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