The Foundry Workers – A Trade Union History, by Fyrth & Collins

[p026] The Foundry Workers—A_ Trade Union History. By H. J. Fyrth and H. Collins. Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers. 18s. The authors of this history take the reader back through 150 years ot struggle by the foundry workers. Every major struggle is chronicled. Step by step the reader can follow the changing economic conditions and how these forced changes on the moulders’ organizations, although often belatedly. The book tells a tale of bitter strife between ‘masters and men’. Recorded are the strikes for recog- nition, strikes against anti-union jegislation, strikes where strikers are put in jail for two months for ‘break- ing their contract with their master’, strikes for a living wage, a shorter working day. Beginning in 1809 with the forma- tion of the Friendly Iron Moulders’ Society we are enlightened by the fact that the first, unpaid, organisers of this union were known as tramps. These were unemployed union mem- bers, forced to tramp from town to town looking for work. They were given a union letter and any union member in ancther town had to put them up overnight and share a meal with them. These tramps spread the word of the union, and often started branches going in various towns. The life of our early moulders was a living hell. Filthy, dust-laden atmospheres, backbreaking work, fearful accidents—-these were every- day routine. As late as 1876 the Scottish moulders reported that one- third to one-half of them died from lung diseases and ‘that the tempor- ary loss of an eye was considered a normal hazard’. Workers carried on working when ill because the alternative ‘was the abyss. . . . The early unions formed by the workers were friendly societies, partly to avoid the law, but also to help each other out in sickness and death. Very few ever lived long enough to claim their superannuation benefit in the early years. In the bitter strikes that took place, where moulders attempted to raise themselves from a semi-human existence, blacklegs were treated to something more than an ‘angry silence’. In 1891 ‘. . . a crowd of 3,000 pelted a tramload of “black- legs” with stones and bolts .. . and the crowd attacked the house of a foreman, breaking the windows... .’ The authors record the many battles to raise wages and with facts and figures show how each economic depression knocked huge holes into the union, often wiping out all previous wage gains, and how the slow job of building up again, often with no money left in the funds, was undertaken, time after time. They also point out that the moulders, in their maintenance of a narrow craft union, hampered them- selves. By excluding not only Jabourers but also core builders, dressers, etc, not to mention founders in metals other than iron, they created sooner or later a multi- plicity of unions, some of which still exist today in spite of many later amalgamations, including that of 1946 which created the present Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers. As the book nears more recent history, whilst the authors maintain their high standard of conscientious recording of main events, wage negotiations, etc., the impression is given that as distinct from their correct criticism of the narrow out- look of the earlier craft leaders, a certain embellishing of the more recent leaderships takes place. For example: in dealing with the 1939-45 war, the authors take the union’s support for the war as natural and defend its acceptance of the Essential Works Order, lifting of overtime restrictions and other long- fought-for union agreements, as necessary because of the ‘national emergency’. They also tell us that the Joint Production Committees in the war were mainly good things as they ... ‘. . . helped thousands of trade unionists .. to feel confident of their power .. .” whereas these were really class-collaboration out- fits that blunted the antagonism be- tween the classes and sowed illusions about ‘common interests’, etc. Dealing with the post-war period the authors record the bitter dis- appointment the union encountered

[p027] SUMMER BOOKS over the actions of the Labour ‘Government on practically every issue. A Garrett report of 1947 which dealt with health and safety in the foundries, and which showed how dust could be virtually com- pletely eliminated, was not made law because the Government employed drastic ‘capital economy’ measures, whilst of course spending millions on rearmament. They left it to em- ployers to carry it out ‘voluntarily’. The union clashed with the Labour Government on all basic issues— nationalization of engineering, foreign policy, the Cripps’ wage freeze, as well as the above. In 1948 the annual meeting passed a motion by 46 to 6 calling ‘for the nationalization of iron and steel by emergency decree with the industry under the control of democratically elected committees of workers and technicians. > One resolution on wages said: ‘. . Our Labour Govern- ment seems to be more concerned in appeasing the Federation of British Industries than assisting the workers who are ihe only people who can pull the country out of the present crisis. . Jim Gardner, the previous General Secretary, who wrote in 1945: ‘No Government has ever presented a programme so pregnant with social change as is contained in the King’s speech to the new Parliament .. ’ was to write six years later in a bitter reply to a Right-wing article: ‘ . changes there have been, but not in employer-worker relations ex- cept in so far as full employment gives advantages to the unions which they are persuaded not to use... .” In spite of the Labour Govern- ment’s complete disregard for the health of foundry workers, the authors record big campaigns by the union, led by Gardner, setting up health and safety committees that have appreciably reduced both acci- dents and the incidence of lung disease since 1947. Modern found- ries such as Fords have clean work- ing conditions. . But modern foundries are also more and more automating foundry processes and the skill of the moulder, core builder, etc., is a dying one. The union, according to the authors, sees the future necessitating amalgamation with all engineering unions, for soon the dividing line between founding and engineering, can well become non-existent. This is a book of great educational value for all trade unionists and students of pclitical and economic history. It really is (in the words of the authors) ‘also to some extent a history of the British Labour Move- ment’. H. FINCH. Road to Hiroshima By Michael 18s.