Red Clydeside: Memorandum outlining proposals for ending Clydeside industrial disputes [memo] (original) (raw)
| Glasgow Digital Library | RED CLYDESIDE | PEOPLE | EVENTS | GROUPS | LITERATURE | IMAGES |
|---|
Red Clydeside
Timeline of events
1915
Sir William Weir resigned as Managing Director of G & J Weir on 24 July 1915 in order to take up a full-time post with the Ministry of Munitions as the Scottish Director of Munitions. Lloyd George had personally sought Weir for this position as he considered him the right man to implement the Munitions of War Act on Clydeside and to enforce dilution in the munitions works on Clydeside.
As the memorandum highlights, Weir held very firm views on the role of trade unionism during wartime and it was these convictions which coloured his plans to tackle militant trade unionism in the munitions workshops and yards of Clydeside.
The struggle to implement dilution on Clydeside went on from autumn 1915 until spring 1916 and reached its climax with the Beardmore strike at Parkhead during March and April 1916. That this strike was broken sharply, efficiently and with complete success was largely down to the plans drawn up by Weir and which are alluded to in this memorandum.
Source: Weir Papers, Glasgow University Archives
| Glasgow Digital Library | RED CLYDESIDE | PEOPLE | EVENTS | GROUPS | LITERATURE | IMAGES |
|---|