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The union makes us strong: The British working class, its trade unionism and politics
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 21, 2018
A surprisingly helpful read for a group of young trade unionists in another country, time, and organising in a different sector to many discussed in the book.
Lane state’s early on that the theme of the book is that “trade unionism on its own carries within itself a politics of accommodation to a capitalist society. Trade unionism was not to be equated with socialism even though, as an organizational expression of the irreconcilability of labour and capital, trade unionism did point in that direction. But point was all it did.”
He sees little efficiency in claims of traitors and betralal. The problem, as he sees it, is that “trade unionism encouraged and furthered the knowledge that the only way capitalism could be confronted economically was at the point of production. This the first and most basic form of class consciousness to emerge in the working class was the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ of the workplace, which meant in practice a consciousness of conflict that was mainly confined to particular workplaces. Conceptions of unity, of ‘us-ness’ were basically a feature of work in one place for one capitalist. They could, of course, be broadened as they were in the General Strike. Workers could, and did, generalize from their own employer to all employers - what might be called a ‘boss consciousness’.
“What trade unionism did not develop was a ‘class consciousness’ in the full and proper sense of the term: a consciousness which went beyond the workplace antagonism of Labour and capital; a consciousness which, informed by a body of theory, could grasp the total reality of capitalism and indicate strategies for its eradication; in short a socialist class consciousness to what were superficially economic problems.”
The first part of the book is a chronological history of the trade union movement: the variety of working class organisational and political and economic practice in the first half of the 19th century; the dominance of the new bourgeoisie in the next period, and then the emergence New Model Unions; the ‘remarkable’ period 1890 to 1926, with the revival of new unionism (though after two decades it was clear that new unionism was no different than the old); and finally the increasing involvement of the unions in the running of the State (to 1972).
The second part looks to particular themes - members, shop stewards, leaders, and trade unions and capitalism.
There are some issues for a modern reader, eg the lack of a definition of worker (were there differences in terms of gender, location, background?), but overall a useful and accessible read.
Lane state’s early on that the theme of the book is that “trade unionism on its own carries within itself a politics of accommodation to a capitalist society. Trade unionism was not to be equated with socialism even though, as an organizational expression of the irreconcilability of labour and capital, trade unionism did point in that direction. But point was all it did.”
He sees little efficiency in claims of traitors and betralal. The problem, as he sees it, is that “trade unionism encouraged and furthered the knowledge that the only way capitalism could be confronted economically was at the point of production. This the first and most basic form of class consciousness to emerge in the working class was the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ of the workplace, which meant in practice a consciousness of conflict that was mainly confined to particular workplaces. Conceptions of unity, of ‘us-ness’ were basically a feature of work in one place for one capitalist. They could, of course, be broadened as they were in the General Strike. Workers could, and did, generalize from their own employer to all employers - what might be called a ‘boss consciousness’.
“What trade unionism did not develop was a ‘class consciousness’ in the full and proper sense of the term: a consciousness which went beyond the workplace antagonism of Labour and capital; a consciousness which, informed by a body of theory, could grasp the total reality of capitalism and indicate strategies for its eradication; in short a socialist class consciousness to what were superficially economic problems.”
The first part of the book is a chronological history of the trade union movement: the variety of working class organisational and political and economic practice in the first half of the 19th century; the dominance of the new bourgeoisie in the next period, and then the emergence New Model Unions; the ‘remarkable’ period 1890 to 1926, with the revival of new unionism (though after two decades it was clear that new unionism was no different than the old); and finally the increasing involvement of the unions in the running of the State (to 1972).
The second part looks to particular themes - members, shop stewards, leaders, and trade unions and capitalism.
There are some issues for a modern reader, eg the lack of a definition of worker (were there differences in terms of gender, location, background?), but overall a useful and accessible read.
July 14, 2018
As someone who has been involved in union volunteering for 2 years I found aspects of this startlingly resonant despite the differences of time period and workplace context. I would recommend this as an enriching perspective on the endless class struggle we all face.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews