THE-

GENERAL FEDERATION"_,~ :. _. ., __ .. ..· ... __ .... _ ... '__ H_._' .. _.•. .. _._.,"" •. ,,_ ....

OF TRADE UNIONS • •

CHIEF OFFICE: 40, BRIDGE HOUSE,· 787, QUEEN VIOTORIA STREET, Telegraphic Addl'eSS: " Wellwlsher," London. BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE, LONDON, E.O.

PENRHYN QUARRY DISPUTE.

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~(Jn'tJ(Jlt : CO-OPERATIVE PRINTING SOCLETY LntITED, TUDOR STlIF;ET, NEW BRrDGE STREET, 1'J.O.

1901. Tjle meeting may be summed up by saying it was an inspiration to us; being ~EPO~T OF DEPUTATION TO BETHESDA. sent to encourage we came away with tbe feeling that encoUl'agement hail been given to us. RELIEF ComIITTEE. The Management Committee at its last meeting, decided to issue the following Later we ·had an interview with a prominent member of the Helief Committce, report to all societies affiliated to the Federation :- from whom we gatbered much information, being particularly strnck witb the good feeling and perfect understanding which exists between the Union and thc Committee. Acting upon your instructions we visi~ed B<:thesda on October 11th, and ~et the Executive Committee of the Quarrymen s Umon, we found tbem as sangmne aud In conf;idering the drawiug up of tLi~ IejJod we wil>h to say :- cheerful as they were on tbe occasion of previous visits at the beginning of the year, 1. That our previous convicticn-that the dispute must bc contiuuo(l is aud even more determined to continue the struggle. They displayed a keen anxiety confirmed. to place the exact position before us, submitted their books, etc., for our inspection, aud freely answered our questions. 2. Tbat the action of those who, on June 11th, betrayed tbeir fellows, has prolonged the dispute. We found that so far as the quarry is concerned the position is much as it was four months ago, there being a total of 595 employes at present working; of these 242 3. That severe censure if; merited by tbose, who by their attempts to are quarrymen, the balance being made up of officials, old men, labourers, and boys. unclermine the loyalty of tbe men, ~heir threats to the men's .wives, a:nd theh' 'fhere are 69 employes now working wbo were not previously employed at the quarry. acting generally as agents to Lord Penrhyn, are also prolonglllg the dispute. We ascertained that in spite of the attemptfl (over 2,000), and pressure wbich is 4. We wish to point out· tbat, in spite of thc fact ~hat_ tbe contin~lallce of being contin.uously brought to bear upon the men still out, as well as upon their wives the spend the week-end with their families, anc1 it was toucbing to see old wearied meD, with their wbite or grey 1. That as tbe dispute will in all probability. last a long time, tinal}cial hairs straggling over their forelleads, toiling up the village street to spend a few hours assistance should be ·continued, and tbat such assIstance sbould be. org~D1Rpil. in the homes which they hac1never had occasion to leave since their birth. To this end we suggest, that this r~port h_c sent to all the UUIOIlH Ill. :be Fethem for mallY months, that tbose who remam III or accept employment, prior to a settlement at the PenrhYll Quarries, need expect no furtber assistance THE EVENING MlmTING from organised labour. was helc1 in a long shed-like building, in wbich there were a few seats in the front to (Signed) PETB CURRAN. accommodate the old men, women and children, and behind these we found standing, G. N. BAHNBS. waiting for us, some 1200 to 1500 men. The Chairman of. the Union presided, being ISHC J\lrTCUBLL, Secrciary. supported by the General and Financial Secretaries and the Committee, and never has i~ been tbe privilege of those wbo composed the deputation to witness such a meetlDg; tbere was the old man whom we bad seen toiling up tbe street after his week's work in some outlying district, and in front of him was bis old wife, fai,thful in adversity as in success, and there also was the young wife with her clllld, whose husband was away in distant coal fields, earning there the living denied him in the" home of his fathers." ...The meeting commenced by.the.singing of a hymn, in Welsh, the whole audience JOllln;g. Telegrams from those III dlst~nt parts were then read, following wbiclI the meetmg was addressed by the deputatIOn, a report of which you have no doubt seen. THE_ GEN~RAL JEQERATION OF TRADE UNIONS

CHIEF OFFICE:

Telegraphic Address 168--170, TEMPLE OHAMBERS, TEMPLE AVENUE, "Wellwisher," London. LONDON, E.O.

TO THE NON=UNIONIST QUA~~YMEN OF NORTH WALES .

•

FELLOW VVOHKlIlEN, It has been customary in the Trade Union movement in this country 101' those who required moral and financial assistance, in the rightful ann .legal endeavour to safeguard and improve their working conditions, to look for and obtain that assistance from their fellow workers and the public generally.

The only return expected for this assistance has been that the experience gained should be taken advantage of, and that such assistance should be . reciprocated when occasion required.

That custom is very rapidly giving phtCe to better methods of organisation. It is not only becoming necessary for those in conflict with their employers to have a good case, they must also give practical evidence of It desire to protect themselves by joining their Trade Union, which in tum shouhl become affiliated to the General Federation of Trade Unions, if snpport from outside is l'equil'e(l.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM: EXPERIENOE. Hltppily, the lessons taught in every industry IH1ve generltlly been well learned by the' WOl'lWl'S. In the 'l'extile, Engineering, Building, and more' 2 3 particularly in the Idndred industry to your own-the Mining, we see the rel:luits YOU R RE.CORD. of previous fierce skuggles for Getter conditions in the excellent organisation of those engaged in these industries. There are now upwards of 10,000 Quarrymen in North Wales. In spite of the experiences you have had there are to-day less than 5,000 members of the No longer do th03e employed as Mechanics, Operatives, or Miner::! wai t for North Wales Ql1al'l'ymen's Union who have recognised that unless tllP.Y the crisis before preraring to defend their standard of living; they recognise in themselves look after their combined interests as workmen those interests the competitive struggle in the commercial world that unless a barrier is placPd must suffer. Not only is this so, but it is no exaggeration to say that the betweeu that standard and the employers' desire to cheapen production inroac1s p~.esent dispute was brought about through your action following the dispute will be made-hence we have the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, the of 1897, when the number of membel's of the North W[des Qllarrymen's TTnion Miners' Federation, the Amalgamated Ootton Spinners, etc., and toas3ist ltll dwindled to small propodions. The recQl'd of membership for thu last c1ecal1o these in their enc1eavours, tile General Federation of Trade U uions. 111 [1kes melancholy reading. Such lack of illterest in your own aff,Li I'fl , following 1897, was an invitll,tion for encl'o'LChments, and this was taken YOUR POSITION. fl,rlvan tage of.

Let us place the position exactly before you. The organisations mentioned, OUR VIEW. with hundreds of others, are in existence primarily to look after their own afft1irs, to protect their own property-their labour. The result shows that in The Trade Unionists of this country and l. htrge majority of the general those trades where the workers have shown intelligence enough to protect their public are generous, are forgiving, and have shown by the support given the interests by Trade Unionism their labour has been benefited; where this has Betheada men that they are ready to make excuses for all who show pluck been neglected, the contrary has been the case. The Miners and Ootton .and grit; but, speaking fOl' a large section of ol'gitllisec1 labotu', we do not hesitate to say- Spinners, etc., are examples of the former; Agricultural Labourers and Women Workers are examples of the latter. (1st) That following the termination of this dispute a necessary essential to obtaining outside support will be an evidence, by your becoming members of the North Wales Quarrymen's Un.ion, that you are YOUR EXPERIENCE. prepared to look after your own interests. On several occasions during the last 40 years numbers of those engaged as (2nd) We fUl'thel' believe that a stumbling block towards settlement Quarrymen in North Wales have found it necessary to appeal for assistance to J in the present dispute is the fact that at leasL 5,000 of you ltrO stl1nding those in other trades and to the public to enable them to tide over differences i; idly by whilst your trade is beiog ruined. they have had with their employers. In 1874, 1885, 1896, and 1900 such I;. "...... appeals were made, and were responded to, particull:trly on the two latter l" occaSions, in a manner never equalled in this or any other country. Although ! TO THOSE WHO RA.VE ACCEPTED EMPLOYMENT SOme of you may not have been directly affected by those disputes, the results AT BETHESDA. ha(l a direct bearing upon the conditions under which you are employed. The conditions of employment in any industry tend to conform to those of the To those who have accepted employment at the Pelll'hyn Quarries wo cheapest l.nd least scrupulous employer iu that industry, so that the result of 1Ia\'e only to say that, besides showing the basest ingratitude, they ~a~e l~eld a stmggle on the part of a section has a direct effect upou your conditions. themselves up to ridicule. In 1896 they stoppec1 work, not on our lllvltat!O:l, If the struggle is won your present conditions are safeguarded; if lost, the but because of bad conditions. Last November they again stopped, and agam tendency will be for them to become worse. we had no voice in the matter. Had we been consulted that advice would have been what it always is-Ol'gltllise! and you will avert the necessity for As has been said, struggles have taken place in 1874, 1885, 1896, and stoppage. Twice, then, they stopped work because of ba~ conditions ... They one is at present in progress. In each of those struggles the assistance from Itskod for and obtn.ined our assistance-only to become traitors to t~eIr cl~ss. those in other trades not directly interested in the result has been generons, Tileir exhibition of servile penitence on retul'l1ing to work, their anxIety whereas that from you, who are directly concerned in the resnlt, has been to show submission to their emplQyer, their association with llle~l who disappointing. ha,l'e prostituted the name of freedom, are all evidences of a tl'altorollS 4 clisposition. To those we have on,l), to say-You [we choosing the charity and servitude of Lord Penrhyn ill preference to that independence and freedom whioh are held sacred by every British workmltn worthy of the 111l,me, and by so doing you ltl'e forfeiting any possibility of obtltining assistltr1ce from the orgltnised workers of the oountry in the future.

CONCLUSION. We ask those of you, who still retain your manhood and independenoe, wherever employec1 in the quarries of North 'Wales, to join the North Wales Quarrymen's Union, to show an intelligent desire to pl'otect your labour, and thus yon willl10t only have hope for the future but you will have thc satisfac­ tion of knowing that the conditions of your employment are the.l'esuH, llot of the charity of your employer, but of association with your fellows in organisa­ tion anc1 the assertion of your manhood, vVe believe that by your joining the Union you will gain the respect of all good employeril, and, let us hope, the fear of all those who are not so regarded.

On behalf of t1ltJ lYIanagemeut Committee, };, 0/. /~ ~~ General Secretary.

--"--- Oo.opel'!1ti\'e Printing Socif:·ty Limited (rrl'[ta~'U~~ion ana ..l~.hou~-,Veek), rrll~dO; S~~·~t:·E:C:~60~ I