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The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the
Munitions Act The Munitions of War Act 1915 was a British Act of Parliament passed on 2 July 1915 during the First World War. It was designed to maximize munitions output and brought private companies supplying the armed forces under the tight control of the ne ...
. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''. The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the
Defence of the Realm Act 1914 The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after it entered the First World War and was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war, such as the p ...
together with
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...
for an article in the CWC journal ''The Worker'' criticising the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
.


Formation

The committee originated in a strike in February 1915 at G. & J. Weir. Due to labour shortages during the war, the company had employed some workers from America, but were paying them more than the Scottish staff. The
shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...
s at the factory organised a walk-out in support of equal pay, and more factories joined the dispute over the next few weeks, until workers at 25 different factories were on strike.Ralph Darlington, ''The Political Trajectory of J.T. Murphy'', pp.14-15 Most of the workers were members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), but the union leadership, both locally and nationally, opposed the strike. In order to defend the strike, about two hundred shop stewards and supporters formed the informal Central (or Clyde) Labour Withholding Committee, which was constituted as the Clyde Workers' Committee in October 1915.Walter Kolvenbach, ''Employee Councils in European Companies'', p.288 The committee met weekly, and included numerous people who later became prominent socialists and communists. These included Gallacher, Tom Bell,
David Kirkwood David Kirkwood, 1st Baron Kirkwood, PC (8 July 1872 – 16 April 1955), was a Scottish politician, trade unionist and socialist activist from the East End of Glasgow, who was as a leading figure of the Red Clydeside era. Biography Kirkwood ...
, John Maclean, Arthur MacManus, Harry McShane and Jimmy Maxton.Martin Crick, ''The History of the Social-Democratic Federation'', p.275 Many of the leading figures were members of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), but others were involved with the
British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw ...
, the
Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse worki ...
, or had no previous political involvement, the general approach being broadly.


Early campaigns – The Glasgow Rent Strikes

The initial demands for higher pay were largely successful, and the committee took up the matter of high rents - an influx of workers to staff the factories producing war materials had pushed up rents. Opposition to this was led by a group of working-class women, including
Mary Barbour Mary Barbour ( Rough; 20 February 1875 – 2 April 1958) was a Scottish political activist, local councillor, bailie and magistrate. Barbour was closely associated with the Red Clydeside movement in the early 20th century and especially for h ...
,
Mary Burns Laird Mary Laird ( Burns; died 1944) was a founding member and first President of the Glasgow Women's Housing Association, a President of the Partick Branch of the Women's Labour League, associated with the Red Clydeside movement, and supported the ...
,
Helen Crawfurd Helen Crawfurd ( Jack, later Anderson; 9 November 1877 – 18 April 1954) was a Scottish suffragette, rent strike organiser, Communist activist and politician. Born in Glasgow, she was brought up there and in London. Biography Born Helen Jack ...
, Agnes Dollan and
Mary Jeff Mary Jeff (1873-1941) was a Scottish activist and politician who was involved in the Glasgow rent strike. Early life and education Mary Jeff was born Mary Russell Watson in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire in 1873. She moved to Govan in 1896, and lived ...
, and culminated in a
rent strike A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent ''en masse'' until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This c ...
of 25,000 tenants by October 1915. The committee threatened to call a
general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...
on the matter, and the government responded by introducing the national Rent Restriction Act.


Policy

The committee called for joint control of factories by workers and management, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the wage system, to produce
industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...
. It was suspicious of the full-time leadership of the trade unions, and passed a resolution stating that they would only support them when their own committee decisions concorded. Although Maclean,
James D. MacDougall James Dunlop MacDougall (15 January 1891 – 25 December 1963), also known as James McDougall, was a Scottish political activist, best known as John Maclean's leading supporter. Early life MacDougall was born in Pollokshaws and was educated at ...
and Peter Petroff urged the group to adopt a policy opposing the war, the SLP members refused to allow discussion of this, preferring to stick solely to industrial and democratic matters. In order to propagate their views, the committee published a weekly newspaper, ''The Worker'', James Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Formation and early years, 1919-1924'', p.23 edited by John William Muir.Keith Ewing and C. A. Gerty, ''The Struggle for Civil Liberties'', pp.73-78


Arrests and deportations

In December 1915,
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
and
Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of t ...
, leading figures in the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...
and Labour Party, travelled to Glasgow to address a meeting of workers at St Andrew's Hall. This was poorly received, particularly by supporters of Maclean, who barracked the speakers. Press accounts of the meeting were officially censored, but two local socialist newspapers, '' Forward'' and Maclean's own publication, ''Vanguard'', were either unaware of this or unwilling to co-operate.B. J. Ripley and J. McHugh, ''John Maclean'', pp.92-95 In response, the government banned the two publications and seized copies of their current issues. On 2 February, ''The Worker'' was also banned, on the grounds that it had printed an article by Maclean entitled "Should the workers arm?", even though the article had concluded that they should not. Police raided the SLP offices where the paper was produced and broke the printing presses, and arrested Maclean, Gallacher, Muir and Walter Bell. In February 1916, David Kirkwood, the treasurer of the committee and a shop steward at
William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...
, was warned that he would be sacked if he spoke to new employees. The following month, he resigned his union post, and a strike at the factory ensued. This soon spread, and was denounced by the ASE leadership. Kirkwood and three other shop stewards (J. Faulds, James Haggerty, Sam Shields and Wainright) were
court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of mem ...
led in their absence and forcibly deported to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, along with two other committee members: T. M. Messer, and MacManus, who had not yet been involved in the strike. They were soon followed by Harry Glass, Robert Bridges and Kennedy from Weir's. A large demonstration on
Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...
was addressed by Maxton and MacDougall, who were also taken to Edinburgh and imprisoned in
Calton Jail Calton may refer to: Places: *Calton, Glasgow, Scotland **Calton (ward), an electoral ward of the Glasgow City Council *Calton, North Yorkshire, England *Calton, Ontario, Canada *Calton, Staffordshire, England *Calton Hill Calton Hill () is ...
. Maclean, Gallacher, Bell and Weir were tried on charges including sedition, and were all found guilty. All except Maclean pleaded guilty and were apologetic; Maclean sang the ''
Red Flag Red flag may refer to: * Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem ** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists ** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...
'' and was sentenced to penal servitude.


Later activities

With all the committee's leading figures imprisoned or deported by the end of 1916, less central figures, such as
Jock McBain John McKenzie McBain (27 August 1882 – 28 January 1941) was a Scottish people, Scottish trade unionist and political activist. Born in Edinburgh, McBain grew up in Elgin, Moray, Elgin before completing an apprenticeship in a foundry in Gla ...
, came to the fore. Only sporadic industrial action took place, and the committee focused on fundraising for the deported leaders. The committee collapsed, inspiring a less influential successor, the Scottish Workers' Committee, and also the Sheffield Workers' Committee, organised on a similar basis and led by J. T. Murphy. These ultimately became part of the Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committees.Patrick Renshaw, '' The Wobblies'', p.223


References


External links


Clyde Workers' Committee (CWC)1919: The 40-hours strike
{{Authority control Opposition to World War I History of labour relations in Scotland Red Clydeside 1915 establishments in Scotland 1915 in economics 1915 in politics