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 newly created
Ministry of Munitions, under
David Lloyd George. The policy, according to
J. A. R. Marriott, was that:
: No private interest was to be permitted to obstruct the service, or imperil the safety, of the State. Trade Union regulations must be suspended; employers' profits must be limited, skilled men must fight, if not in the trenches, in the factories; man-power must be economized by the dilution of labour and the employment of women; private factories must pass under the control of the State, and new national factories be set up. Results justified the new policy: the output was prodigious; the goods were at last delivered.
The law imposed very strong regulations on wages, hours and employment conditions. It was a penal offence for a worker to leave his current job at such a "Controlled Establishment" without the consent of his employer, which in practice was "almost impossible" to obtain.
The
Clyde Workers' Committee was established to oppose the Act.
The Munitions Act was a response to the
Shell Crisis of 1915 when inadequate supplies of artillery shells and other munitions contributed to a political crisis for prime minister
H. H. Asquith and the formation on 17 May 1915 of a coalition government of all three major parties.
The Act forbade strikes and lockouts and replaced them with compulsory arbitration. It set up a system of controlling war industries. It established munitions tribunals that were special courts to enforce good working practices. It suspended, for the duration, restrictive practices by trade unions. It limited labour mobility between jobs. The courts ruled the definition of munitions to be broad enough to include textile workers and dock workers. The law was repealed in 1919, but similar legislation took effect during the Second World War.
As promised in 1915, under the
Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919, the main features of the law were abolished regarding manning arrangements (in particular employment of women and unskilled workers), closed shop agreements, restriction of overtime and apprenticeship rules.
See also
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History of the United Kingdom during World War I
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Defence of the Realm Act 1914
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Munitionette
References
Further reading
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External links
Page from the Munitions of War Act, 1915House of Commons debate on the Act, 1 July 1915House of Lords debate on the Act, 13 January 1916
{{UK legislation
1915 in law
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1915
Emergency laws in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom in World War I
1915 in military history
World War I legislation