The Taff Vale Dispute: A Classic Struggle Between Capital and Labour. A contemporary analysis by Graeme Lockwood
Introduction • • • The Taff Vale Railway Completed 1841 Dowlais ironworks Josaih Guest and Anthony Hill C 19 th one of the most profitable railway companies • History of good industrial relations
The Background to the Taff Vale Dispute • No single cause a variety of contributory factors Key factors • Union growth and activity • Management attitude • Economic climate • Increased competition • Treatment of employees
The Main Participants Taff Vale Railway Company (TVRC) Mr Beasley, general manager (TVRC) Mr Vassell, chairman (TVRC) Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) Mr Bell, national union official Mr Holmes, local official and activist
The Development of the Dispute • Union claim for improved pay and conditions • Settlement of the dispute on Barry and Rhymney Railway Companies but not Taff Vale. • Tension between Bell and Holmes • The treatment of signalman Ewington • Holmes and the move to collective action
The Development of the Dispute (Continued) • Holmes and worker representatives reflect on strategy • The treatment of signalmen Ewington • Uncaring and unjust management • Renewed claim for better pay • Attempts to settle the dispute • The strike action
The Industrial Action • • • The organisation of industrial action Engagement of substitute labour Violence and intimidation The attempts for a settlement Management refusal to negotiate The ‘drift’ towards legal action
The Legal Action • • • Two applications to Mr Justice Farwell The decision of Farwell, J. Court of Appeal decision House of Lords decision Damages paid by the ASRS The hostility of the common law towards trade unions
The Political Ramifications • • The trade union response The development of legal hazards Trade unions and political activity Trade union support for the Labour Representation Committee – forerunner of the Labour Party • Trade Disputes Act 1906
Concluding thoughts • • Reminiscent language Historical and modern disputes Political action Legal rights
A Quote to Close (From a leading article in the Railway Review, November 25 th 1898) The very existence of trade unions is at the mercy of political action. Political action could render trade unionism powerless, or it could make it all powerful. Political action could solve the labour problem for ever, or it could make the labourer a slave in name and fact. Political action could give us all that we shout for from the trade union platform or it could damn our movement for years to come
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