Ideology in Britain

Workers and the Growth of Trade Unions

As a result of the industrial revolution and the growth of the new industrial towns and cities, Britain relatively quickly developed a large number of factory workers. The large number of workers concentrated in the towns did not, however, produce a socialist movement comparable to the one that developed in France between 1830 and 1848.27 One of the reasons for this is the fact that workers in Britain were able, at a relatively early stage, to develop Trade Unions to further their demands. Since no clear ideological theory developed in Britain in this period, the object of this page will be to have a look at the development of other ways in which workers furthered their demands.

Since 1824 workers had been allowed to join together in unions, but these early trade unions were usually small and weak. They were created to make sure employers paid reasonable wages, but due to their weakness employers were usually able to defeat striking factory workers.28 Dissatisfaction with the governments lacking ability to produce radical reforms resulted in the development of a revolutionary trade unionism in the early 1830s. These revolutionary movements were met by the employers with ‘lock-out’, and the militants soon turned back to political action.29

Relationship between employer and workers

1834 can be seen as a turning point in trade union history. Trade unions had until this point in time been small and unable to cooperate to make a united front against the employers. When six farmworkers from Tolpuddle in Dorset joined together and promised to be loyal to their union, their employer was able to find a law by which they could be punished. The workers were found guilty, and in spite of massive workers’ demonstrations they were not pardoned before they had served part of their sentence.

The "Tolpuddle martyrs" became a symbol of employers’ cruelty and demonstrated to the working classes the need to defend themselves through trade union strength.30 The introduction of a cheap postage system in 1840 helped the workers to organise themselves across the nation in a far more efficient manner than before. This increased organisational efficiency can among other things be seen in the development of the "Co-operative Movement" after 1844. This was a network of shops that sold goods at a fair price and shared the profits among its members, and it was huge success with 150 Co-operative stores by 1851.31

Another feature of the working-class movement in Britain was the development of the Chartist movement in the later half of the 1830s. The political goals and the impact of Chartism will be further described in the next part of the assignment, as this movement to a certain extent was active in 1848. For the time being, we can conclude that even if trade unions did not fully develop until after 1850, the years between 1830 and 1848 were important as a formative first phase. During this period the workers became aware of the need to stand together to further their collective demands, and the trade unionism that developed in this period was much more of a mass movement than for example the socialism that developed among the working classes in France.