Wool Textile Workers and Trade Union Organisation in the Post-War Woollen District of Yorkshire Laura Christine Price a Thesis S
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Wool Textile Workers and Trade Union Organisation in the Post-war Woollen District of Yorkshire Laura Christine Price A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD University of York History September 2015 1 Abstract This thesis examines the level of trade union membership amongst wool textile workers in the Yorkshire woollen district after 1945. Trade union membership had always been low amongst wool textile workers, in comparison with similar industries such as the cotton textile industry. Although wool workers’ low level of union membership has been referred to by eminent scholars of labour history such as David Howell and E. P. Thompson, no studies of significant length or scope have been undertaken on this topic. This thesis seeks to redress the balance away from other, better-organised groups of workers onto a workforce and an industry that have received little scholarly attention. Although the wool workforce had always been poorly organised collectively, the post-war period was chosen both because of the larger variety of sources available to historians, including oral sources, and because the industry’s decline was occurring throughout this period. The thesis shows that decline – and the threat of jobs which accompanied it – was not enough to induce wool textile workers to join a trade union. The thesis draws on oral history sources with former wool textile workers, along with statistical information about the industry and the local population, government records, and the records of the National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers, as well as contemporary newspaper reports. The thesis demonstrates that there were several factors that combined to limit the growth of collective organisation amongst wool textile workers. The most significant was the organisation of the industry into many small units of production, which not only posed practical difficulties of organisation, but also encouraged close relations between workers and employers that circumvented the need for trade unions. Additionally, there was no common ‘wool worker’ identity with which unions could mobilise potential members. 2 Contents Page number Abstract 2 List of Tables 5 Acknowledgements 6 Author’s Declaration 7 Introduction 8 Chapter One: the Wool Textile Industry in the Post-war Period 23 Introduction 23 Precedents: the Wool Textile Industry before 1945 25 Decline in the Post-war Era 26 Wool in the Post-war Economy: Problems and Solutions 28 Jobs in the Wool Textile Industry 33 Conclusion 36 Chapter Two: Wool Trade Unions, Trade Unionists and Strikes before 1945 38 Introduction 38 Politics in the Woollen District, c. 1890-1945 38 Pre-war Wool Trade Unions 41 ‘You Live What You Preach:’ Julia Varley, Trade Union Activist 44 Three Strikes: 1875, 1890-91 and 1925 49 Conclusion 53 Chapter Three: The National Union of Dyers, Bleachers and Textile Workers and Textile Trade Unionism after 1945 54 Introduction 54 The NUDBTW after 1945: Membership and Decline 56 The Approach of the NUDBTW 62 Immigrants and Women: the Treatment of Key Groups in the Workforce by the NUDBTW 65 Conclusion 72 Chapter Four: Structure, Power and Identity in the Workplace 74 Introduction 74 Organisation and Structures of the Industry 76 Power and Management 81 Immigrants and Power Relations in the Mill 82 Residues of Paternalism 84 Workplace Identities and Skill 85 Conclusion 90 Chapter Five: Identities Beyond the Workplace 92 Introduction 92 Class 94 Ethnicity 97 Generational Differences between Immigrant Wool Textile Workers 100 Gender 101 Religion and Leisure Pursuits 103 Political Affiliations 107 Conclusion 109 3 Chapter Six: Community in the Woollen District 110 Introduction 110 Definitions of Community 112 Community Composition 115 Wool Workers’ Understanding of Community 119 Residential Communities in the Woollen District 121 The Social and Other Aspects of Communities 126 Conclusion 132 Chapter Seven: the Lock-out at William Denby & Sons, 1963-65 134 Introduction 134 Industrial Relations in the 1960s 135 William Denby & Sons: Background to the 1963-65 Dispute 136 The Industrial Action of 1963-65 143 Reactions to the Dispute 150 The Aftermath of the Dispute into the 1970s 153 Conclusion 155 Chapter Eight: Immigrant Organisations: the Indian Workers’ Association and Asian Youth Movements in the Woollen District, c.1950-1985 157 Introduction 157 Agency and Oppression: Scholarly Approaches to Studying Immigrants and Work in Britain 159 The Indian Workers’ Association, 1950s-present 162 The National IWA 162 The Bradford and Huddersfield Branches of the IWA 166 The Second Generation: Asian Youth Movements, c. 1975-85 169 Literature on Asian Youth 170 Community and Identity in the Aims and Methods of the AYMs 171 Conclusion 176 Conclusion 178 Abbreviations 185 Bibliography 186 4 Tables Page number Table 1: Numbers Employed in Wool Textiles in UK and NUDBTW Membership 59 Table 2: Union Density in Cotton and Other Textiles in United Kingdom 61 Table 3: Numbers Employed in Cotton and Wool in Great Britain (000s) 71 Table 4: Wool Textile Firms by Number of Employees in England 77 5 Acknowledgements The award of a Pasold Research Fund PhD Bursary in the academic year 2010-11 was incredibly helpful as a self-funded student, and in particular allowed me to conduct research in Birmingham and at the Modern Records Centre which would have been difficult otherwise. The generous assistance given by those who contributed oral history testimonies to this project is much appreciated. I promised them anonymity and therefore cannot name them, but I wish them to know I am very grateful for giving their time and recollections to me. The help given by archivists, especially at the Bradford and Huddersfield branches of West Yorkshire Archive Service, has also been invaluable. The support and encouragement of my supervisors since I began the thesis in 2008 has been vital. Professor Lawrence Black was a member of my Thesis Advisory Panel and offered helpful advice on chapter drafts. Dr Elizabeth Buettner supervised my work at the start of the PhD; I owe her many thanks. Dr David Clayton has been both Thesis Advisory Panel member and, latterly, supervisor. I am particularly grateful to him, not only for offering a different perspective on my work as well as a huge amount of support, but also for talking me down from the ledge when I was close to withdrawing from the degree due to health problems. He was joined in this by Professor David Howell, and without their constant encouragement, this thesis would not have been completed. Professor Howell has been my teacher since my second year of undergraduate study, when he taught me Historical Sociology. Both that module and his advice have been the biggest influence on my research, and there are not thanks enough in the world that I can offer him. I have worked at Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury since April 2009, and need to thank my students and colleagues for being so incredibly supportive and understanding of my PhD. For this in particular, I would like to thank Debbie Howard, Gemma Sinclair and Michael Steer. Friends were also hugely supportive. Rhiannon Carey Bates made me realise that I should apply for a PhD and that it was not beyond my grasp. Rebecca McCormick gave helpful feedback on drafts of my thesis. Dr Leanne Bibby has supported me through the whole of my thesis. Without regular cups of tea and lunches with Dr Oliver Betts, Sarah Betts and Dr Rhian McLaughlin, my PhD would have been a very lonely experience indeed. Finally, thanks to those who have supported me most: Rebecca Price, Jamie Virgo, Keith Smith and Carolyn Ross. Rebecca and Jamie have reminded me that a world outside of my research exists and that I should occasionally participate in it. My mother, Carolyn Ross, and stepfather, Keith Smith, have put a roof over my head without complaint, looked after me (financially and otherwise) and always supported everything I do. This is particularly true of my mother, who has to care for me as a result of my illness as well as working full time, and is the hardest-working person I have ever met. Without her, I could not have finished a PhD. The thesis is dedicated to the four of you, with thanks for your ongoing love. 6 Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference has been made to the contribution of others, this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of York or any other institution. 7 Introduction Trade union organisation in the Yorkshire wool textile industry was weak in the post-war period. The industry’s workers, based in the woollen district of the West Riding (and later West Yorkshire, mainly comprising the cities and towns of Bradford, Huddersfield, Batley, Dewsbury and Halifax), had never been active trade union members, and trade union membership was generally low; after 1945, as the industry contracted, this situation did not change. This thesis will investigate the key reasons why wool textile workers were poorly organised in the post-war period. The wool textile industry in the twentieth century is relatively under-researched compared to other declining industries, such as cotton textiles and coal mining. This is curious, given the wool industry’s once-important status in the British economy; it is possible that the industry’s diminishing importance was matched by declining interest in its study, but wool textiles retained importance in the woollen district of Yorkshire. The 1961 census indicated that, in a ten per cent sample of workers in the West Riding, 796 people per 10,000 were employed in the wool textile industry, with a further 65 per 10,000 employed in textile engineering and 61 per 10,000 in carpet manufacture – a total of 922 per 10,000 employed in textiles and related trades.1 This can be compared against a total of 714 per 10,000 people in the West Riding employed in coal mining and 456 per 10,000 in the iron and steel industries.2 Despite the significance of wool for local employment, export shares declined throughout the twentieth century, and particularly sharply in the post-war years, with Britain’s level of exports declining from 29 million kilograms in 1953-55 to 10.6 million kilograms in 1990.