Evening star., 1938-06-12
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

BY JOHN C. HENRY.
a II UGH more than the bare content
Hu ana operation of the British Trade
v Disputes and Trade Unions Act
of 1927 should be and undoubtedly
will be studied by the special commission
which President Roosevelt plans to send
to England this summer
For, as the President himself has OBJ
served the United States has Jagged far
behind Britain in developing national poll
cies of labor relations in such way as to
eliminate the insanities which surround
such issues in America Seldom, If ever,
do we read of participants in British
strikes being clubbed or gassed by either
company or municipal police, or hun
dreds OF thousands of dollars being spent
for industrial espionage and efforts to
break the unions; and seldom, If ever,
do We read of sit-down strikes or destruc-
tion Of private property by British work
men or read any more of sympathy"
strikes tieing up a whole community.
Broadly speaking, the explanation prob
ably is that the rights and responsibilities
pf British labor were being put into law
was being attempted in America At the
same time, the effectiveness of collective
agreements was being given fair test and
found generally desirable.
Not All Peace.
This Is not to say. Of course, that con-
dict has been absent from the labor his
tory of England. for there have been
stubbornly contested strikes and eras of
restrictive law
Development Of British laws on labor,
up to the important act of 1927, may be
traced briefly as follows:
In 1924 there was a reversal OF trend
n labor lawmaking for Britain and pre-
vlous restrictive enactmert IS gave way to
law specifying that labor combinations
should not be liable to prosecution for
conspiracy for efforts to improve wages
ana working conditions. An outbreak Of
strikes followed and Parliament repealed
this law in favor of one extending freedom
OF association, but imposing certain re-
str1ctions on such combinations.
This version remained in effect until
1871 when the Trades Union Registry
ACT attempted to liberalize the law by
SPECIFIC declaration that trade unions were
not illegal combinations in restraint of
trade In 1875. the Conspiracy and Pro.
lection of Property Act fully withdrew
labor combinations from subjection to the
common-law doctrine of conspiracy. In
enect. the law of 1875 was a statutory
recognition Of the right to strike.
Hesitated in Politics.
There had been during the years pre.
ceding the 1905 considerable growth in
membership Of the labor movement. with
the dominant theory being one of craft Or
ganization for skilled workers only and
marked hesitation toward any type of
political activity. With the liberalization
OF labor law, however another school of
thought became increasingly powerful, and
British labor found itself UNDERGOING q
division not unlike that now found In the
American labor movement On one side
were the amalgamated unions of skilled
workers, shying away from politics and
Following cautious policies. On the other
side were leaders of industrial type unions
enAsting the unskilled and hot for inde-
pendent political action.
Two developments stimulated the latter
group, the first being a major victory in
q dockworkers' strike in 1889, and the other
being court decision in 1901 in which
the Taft Vale Railway Co. was awarded
Strike damages in suit brought against
the Amalgamated Society of Railway serv-
ants
Fearful that the latter incident might
lead to flood of court actions which
would be fatal to the whole labor move.
ment, the two factions drew somewhat
closer together in supporting candidates
for the House of Commons. BY 1905 labor
had 20 representatives in the House and
the National Labor party was founded.
Sympathy Strikes Legalized.
In that very year was passed the Trade
Dispute Act Of 1906, having as its principal
purpose provision safeguarding trade
unions against civil liability. The 1906
act also legalized sympathetic strikes and
freed union officials from liability for
picketing, soliciting strike support and
other practices commonly accompanying
strikes
With these manifestations of political
and economic strength arose the question
Of legality of using trade union funds for
political purposes. and the House of Lords
finally ruled that unions were not legally
~ entitled to undertake activities not specif-
cally mentioned in existing statutes thus
excluding not only political but educational
and other activities.
This ruling aroused labor to the point
Of gaining passage of the Trade Union
Act of 1918 in which unions were newly
defined and granted other objects than
the principal one of representing workers
In collective agreements.
Permission to expend funds for political
purposes was qualified, however, to re-
quire approval of a majority of union
members, voting by secret ballot. It was
further required that such expenditures
must be made from q special fund and
that individual members might serve no.
tice upon the union of unwillingness to
contribute to this fund.
During these years Of development Of
status Of the trade unions there was par
illel but largely independent development
Of the principle Of collective bargaining in
industry with the result that more than
1o,5oo,o0o British workers, or about 10 per
cent of the industrial and agricultural
employees of the nation are covered bv
collective agreements