The Irish Labour History Society: An Outline History (original) (raw)
Related papers
What Caused the 1913 Lockout? Industrial Relations in Ireland, 1907-13
Historical studies in industrial relations, 2005
Shortly before 10 a.m. on Tuesday 26 August 1913, the first day of the annual Dublin Horse Show, conductors and drivers walked off the city's trams in furtherance of a demand for improved wages and conditions. Implicitly, they sought too the reinstatement of dismissed colleagues and recognition of their union, the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). What followed became the most famous industrial dispute in Irish history. The Dublin Employers' Federation rallied behind the chairman of the Tramways Company, William Martin Murphy, in his determination to crush the union and its leader, Big Jim Larkin. By the end of September a strike of perhaps 340 men had turned into a lockout of at least 20,000 workers-in a city of little over 300,000 people-for refusing to sign 'the document' dissociating themselves from the ITGWU. Dublin would dominate the labour question in Britain as well as Ireland until the employers' victory in January 1914. No one had anticipated a clash of such scale and intensity. Dublin was not a predominantly manufacturing city, and had long been surpassed by Belfast as the industrial capital of Ireland. In all its ancient history of labour militancy, it had never experienced anything quite like the lockout. Despite the 'Celtic twilight'-that last-ditch effort of Irish-Irelanders to frustrate the complete anglicization of Ireland-Edwardian Dublin was usually characterized as 'stagnant' and noted for continuity rather than change. The hegemony of the Catholic church among all classes remained unchallengeable, as would be affirmed during the lockout when the clergy stopped a scheme to evacuate children of impoverished families to homes in 'Protestant' England. Though socialists were coming to occupy key positions in trade unions, Larkinism had a negligible effect on the popularity of socialist parties, several of which had struggled to survive in Dublin HSIR (SPRING ) - 'Larkin through the Eyes of Writers', in D. Nevin (ed.), James Larkin:
Labor History, 2014
This article examines the rise of the Independent Workers' Union in Ireland, north and south, in relation to the bifurcation of trade unionism on the Island, from 1900 until the demise of so-called Celtic tiger in the early years of the twenty first century. It is argued that two competing ideological and political trajectories defined the major divisions in the Irish labour movement and where given added impetus with the formation of two separate states after 1920. One tradition was committed to an idea of a progressive British empire, while the other was born of a movement linking together trade union, class and national autonomy. A trade union with a long history and recent past, the IWU represents a labour movement formation whose tradition extends the latter: it is committed to developing forms of opposition to state and capital. If more subdued since the partition of the island, this tradition was reignited with the implosion of social partnership in the South and the rise of the new sectarianism in the north. Neo-liberalism, with its consequent assault upon labour and its various institutions more broadly, provided additional impetus to the creation of the IWU in 2004. The article also assesses its various alternative union and community organising strategies.
'Labour Will Fight, and Labour Will Be Right': The Belfast Engineering Strike of 1919
Saothar 47, 2022
Clark's South Yard, many of them still wearing their dungarees, gathered in what the Belfast News Letter described as a 'dense body' on the Queens Road and, with fife and flute bands to the fore, marched across the river to the North Yard with young workers carrying banners declaring '44 Hours means no unemployment' and '44 means work for demobilised soldiers'. Their ranks swelled to over 40,000 as more men joined them from Belfast's engineering works as they marched, via York Street and Royal Avenue, to City Hall.1 It was the largest demonstration ever held by Belfast workers in pursuit of better pay and conditions. Exactly one week later hundreds of people, including many young Catholic curates, gathered outside Dublin's Mansion House, under the watchful eye of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Walter Edgeworth Johnstone, Chief Commissioner of the DMP and Sir James Byrne, the first Catholic Inspector General of the RIC, to observe the opening of proceedings at the First Dail. Such was the temper of the times that they chose to do so discreetly from an upstairs window of the Royal Automobile Club across the road and no attempt was made to interfere with the proceedings.
Jim Larkin and the Communist Internationals, 1923–9
Irish Historical Studies, 1999
Irish Historical Studies I Born of Liverpool-Irish stock, Larkin came to Ireland as a trade union organiser in 1907, founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (I.T.G.W.U.) in 1908, enjoyed spectacular success and popularity from 1911 to 1913, and suffered a traumatic defeat in the 1913 lock-out. In October 1914 he went to America to recuperate. He had become increasingly awkward to work with, and the union executive felt the break would do him good. He was imprisoned in May 1920 on a charge of criminal anarchy, during the 'red scare' that followed the Bolshevik revolution. By 1923 the political climate had relaxed, and on 17
Trade union recognition in late 20th century Ireland
Saothar - Journal of the Irish Labour History Society, 2015
At a time of trade union commemoration of pivotal labour history events such as the 1913 Lockout, it is important also to examine the question of union recognition in more recent Irish history. To an interesting extent, it is a question underpinned by constitutional provisions and by legal argument. The Irish Constitution, Bunreacht na Éireann, (1937), provides inter alia that ‘(the) State guarantees liberty for the exercise of...the right of the citizens to form associations and unions’ (Article 40.6.iii). However, the evolving story of trade union rights and freedoms in post-independence Ireland is also shaped by various legal rulings, challenges and interpretations. For instance, the Courts seek to interpret the constitutional right of citizens to form associations and unions in the context of no corresponding obligation on the part of employers to recognise such associations and unions while individual disputes cast long shadows. This article aims, therefore, to examine the complex story of trade union recognition in more recent Irish labour history. In so doing, it situates the question of union recognition in the context of its constitutional framework, the origins and decline of the voluntarist system of industrial relations, and the shifting fortunes of trade unions and consequent industrial disputes in late twentieth century Ireland.
On 25 May 1924, forty-five members of the No.1 Branch of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union were evicted from their branch premises at Liberty Hall by the military. They were arrested by the police and charged with unlawful possession. On 28 May, one of the 45 'ascended a railway pillar at Beresford Place and addressed a crowd of about 300 persons.' He said: I am one of the 45…before I go [to court] I want to tell you…it is rumoured that the Executive [of the ITGWU] is coming down to take over the Hall…remain [in the hall] and make your protest. You are paying for that Hall and own it. You are now fighting a new combination: the Chamber of Commerce, the Free State Government, and the so-called Executive…I must go now. Stand firm, keep quiet and I wish you luck.1 When brought to court, the 45 were found not guilty of any charges; however, Judge Cooper was determined to incarcerate them and, despite their innocence, they were sent to Mountjoy jail. This essay will look to see what the circumstances were that brought about this brazen miscarriage of justice, and ask what its ramifications were for the wider labour movement. When James Larkin returned to Ireland in April 1923 (having been heavily involved in the American labour movement) he had been away for over eight years. Substantial changes had taken place with the partition of Ulster and the establishment of the Free State. The Transport Union, of which he was still General Secretary, was now a nationwide organisation, with significant resources at its disposal. However, the underlying nature of society, where Larkin was most at home, remained the same: the bitter struggle between employer and employee continued unabated.2 Five weeks after Larkin returned, the ITGWU was riven asunder as Larkin and the General Treasurer William O'Brien fought each other for control of the union and its offices, including the symbolic Liberty Hall. Most historians view Larkin as the culprit responsible for the split in the labour ranks,3 although there has been some dissension from this view.4 Another aspect of the historiography is its emphasis on the egos of the individuals concerned, particularly Larkin's.5 Whilst it is true that ego and personality played a role in the events surrounding the split in the ITGWU, too often these characteristics are viewed as determining the conflict, and its outcome.6 Following the maxim that men and women
The Irish Labour Party. From its origins to 1938
2020
the facts of his career, what he really stood for and whether he has a message for us to-day" 3. Larkin on the other hand, as just described, spent most of his life fighting the movement he had managed to organise. Today however they are both considered "legendary figures, almost canonised by an establishment that has named schools, railway stations, and hospitals after them" 4. During the last years new studies on the Irish Labour Party had been published, starting from the 2007