George Shipton (1839 – 14 October 1911) was a prominent British

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

Trade union activity

Shipton worked as a builder and became involved in trade unionism by joining the

Land and Labour League The Land and Labour League was formed in October 1869 by a group of radical trade unionists affiliated to the International Working Men's Association. Its formation was precipitated by discussion of the land question at the Basle Congress of 1869. ...

, where he became a strong supporter of

George Odger George Odger (1813–4 March 1877) was a pioneer British trade unionist and radical politician. He is best remembered as the head of the London Trades Council during the period of formation of the Trades Union Congress and as the first President ...

. In 1872, he was elected as the General Secretary of the

London Trades Council The London Trades Council was an early labour organisation, uniting London's trade unionists. Its modern successor organisation is the Greater London Association of Trades (Union) Councils History Leading figures in the London trade union mov ...

. In 1873, he became the first leader of the London Amalgamated Painters union, a post he held until 1889. In 1878, Shipton travelled to Paris, leading the English delegation at an early international labour conference. In February 1880, he stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Radical candidate in a by-election in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

coming third with 799 votes.

''The Labour Standard''

The

had broken links with '' The Bee-Hive'', their previous journal, in 1865, and it had ceased publication in 1878. In 1881, they resolved to establish their own newspaper, ''

The Labour Standard The Labour Standard was a short-lived trade unionist newspaper in London, published between May 1881 and July 1885. It described itself as 'the recognised industrial journal of the organised trades of the United Kingdom'. The paper's initial edit ...

'', and named Shipton as its editor. He initially ran with a series of lead articles by

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the post which later became the General Secretary.

New Unionism

In the late 1880s, Shipton opposed the New Unionism. Although the

universal franchise Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

was some years off, he claimed that "when the people were unenfranchised, were without votes, the only power left to them was the demonstration of numbers. Now, however, the workmen have votes." In 1890,

Tom Mann Thomas Mann (15 April 1856 – 13 March 1941), was an English trade unionist and is widely recognised as a leading, pioneering figure for the early labour movement in Britain. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a ...

and

Ben Tillett Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889 that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in founding ...

, proponents of the New Unionism wrote a document entitled ''The "NEW" Trade Unionism: a reply to Mr George Shipton''. He was defeated for the Secretaryship of the Parliamentary Committee of the TUC, but remained the Secretary of the London Trades Council until 1896.

Other activities

Shipton was co-opted as a member of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

on 18 December 1890, but stood down at the next elections, in 1891.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipton, George 1839 births 1911 deaths General Secretaries of the Trades Union Congress Members of the London School Board Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress