Trade Union reactions to the economic crisis

Abstract

The trade unions in Britain, like those in the majority of European states, had long before 1929 become associated with a political party of socialist leanings. In this country the immediate reason for this association had been the hope of political influence and a share in the law-making power, rather than doctrinal support, but here, too, the unions had a right to expect some economic insight, and a guide line to the major economic events and policies, from their allied political wing. In this they were to be disappointed. When the crisis of I929 struck and was followed by mass unemployment, the Labour Party and those union leaders who had been converted to socialism merely reacted by blaming capitalism in general, and reiterating that only socialism could effect a cure. A similar position was also taken by the International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU).1 At a time when the Labour Government of I929-3I became totally committed to reviving capitalism rather than burying it, such an attitude became an escape from reality rather than a blueprint for realistic policy: the belief in ultimate socialism became an excuse for not doing anything meanwhile.2 Ernest Bevin dealt with this escapism in a characteristically blunt and revealing outburst: 'I know that I could be answered by the usual socialist philosophy', he said contemptuously on one occasion in I93I, 'but when you go on a Royal Commission you have to deal with facts as they are and the problem as it is.'3 In consequence of this confusion of thought within the Labour Party, much of the running was made by the trade unions. It was