Sold as a multi-volume set - the individual volumes are also available for purchase.

This is volume 1 of six accessible volumes covering UNITE's history from 1880-2010. The history of the TGWU is the core of this collection, with a significant emphasis on the union's regions, as well as several key themes, such as equality, internationalism, the wider labour movement, and its attitude to the conflict between capital and labour.

This first volume (1880-1931) covers the formation of the TGWU. It was rooted in an era in which, starting in the 1880's, a mass trade union movement was formed. The drive to amalgamate the unions was spearheaded by Ernest Bevin and resulted in the creation of the TGWU, 1920-22 - a period which witnessed an intensification of pre and post WW1 militancy. Such militancy continued, albeit unevenly until 1926 and was met with resistance from employers and the State culminating in the mighty confrontation of the General Strike. Politically the union had a close relationship with the Labour Party and its two minority Governments (1923-4 and 1929-31). The defeat of 1926 marked a watershed in British labour history in which, again, the TGWU played a key role. Trade union militancy was succeeded by an attempt at negotiated accommodation with the employers, known as 'Mondism'. Bevin was central to this development.

About the Author
Mary Davis is a Visiting Professor of Labour History, Royal Holloway, University of London and Secretary for the Marx Memorial Library. John Foster is Emeritus Professor, Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland.

Reviews

'The book takes you on a long, passionate, and moving political journey depicting the growth and power of the trade union movement. It winds its way through the years of trauma, hardship, and poverty of the working classes, defining in great detail how they evolved, particularly during the war years and the economic crash of the 1930s. It includes the rise in women's rights and the fluctuating influences unions had on the working classes and still have to this day... Anyone would be proud to own this book and it would feel at home on the shelves of universities, colleges, and schools all over the United Kingdom.' Diane Hoyles, Labour History Review

Book Information
ISBN 9781800859715
Author Mary Davis
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press