Today, 18th March, is the 176th anniversary of the day in 1834 when six labourers from the village of Tolpuddle in Dorset were found guilty of forming an illegal trade union and were sentenced to be transported to Australia for their misdeeds. The men, James Loveless, George Loveless, John Stanfield, Thomas Standfield, James Brine and James Hammett spent four years in Australia before they were allowed to return. They were prosecuted under the Combination Acts, which specifically forbade the formation of any group intended to represent the labouring classes. The employers - and the government - took the view that such organisations would prevent the possibility of organising the running of any business.
The dispute arose because the workers in Tolpuddle believed that they had an agreement with their employer that they should be paid the going rate in the area for their labour - which was 10/- per week. They found that they were only to be paid 9/- and they protested. And then their wages were reduced to 8/- and 7/- and then 6/-, which was too little for them to feed their families. Even in the best of times their wages hardly provided enough for food, rent and heating and they decided to organise themselves into a "friendly society" to fight their cause. They were arrested and following trial in a magistrates court they were transported. James Loveless subsequently became a leading figure in the Chartists movement which took the fight for trades unions a stage further. But it was Tolpuddle that is regarded as the first step along the road to the proper representation of workers rights.
/
No comments:
Post a Comment