Tom Barker (3 June 1887 – 2 April 1970) was a New Zealand tram conductor, trade unionist and socialist. He was born in
Crosthwaite
Crosthwaite is a small village located in the Parish of Crosthwaite and Lyth, South Lakeland, Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Coun ...
,
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, England.
He was a leading member of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW) and politician in New Zealand and Australia.
Early life
Barker was the eldest son of farm worker Thomas Grainger Barker and his wife Sarah, née Trotter. As a boy, he worked on the farm until the age of 11 years and then in a milking parlor until he was 14 years old. He then went to Liverpool and in 1905 joined the British military, in a cavalry regiment. However, due to growing health problems with the strength of his heart, he was discharged soon from the army and worked in Liverpool on the rail-road.
In 1909 he emigrated to New Zealand, and worked in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
as a conductor on the trams.
He married Bertha Isaakovna, a Polish-born ballet dancer.
[
]
Politics
New Zealand
In New Zealand, he became an active trade unionist and secretary of the New Zealand Socialist Party
The New Zealand Socialist Party was founded in 1901, promoting the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The group, despite being relatively moderate when compared with many other socialists, met with little tangible success, but it neverthe ...
. In 1913 he joined the IWW and brought a Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
influence to the political orientation of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for a more socialist perspective. In 1913 he mobilized the IWW for the Auckland General Strike and was arrested for conspiracy in Wellington in 1913.[ He was released in 1914 by paying a bail to the amount of £1500.][
]
Australia
At the beginning of 1914 he went to Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and took the post of editor for the IWW magazine ''Direct Action''. There he championed the rights of colored workers and fought for equal wages for coloreds and for women. The Australian Workers Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...
(AWU) had refused to organize with coloreds, despite their solidarity with the AWU. He spoke out against the AWU's actions, stating: ''"The Class War is a nobler sentiment than the Race War, for it strives for the abolition of chains and not for their perpetuation."'' He also sought to unite feminists with labor movements, believing gender warfare to be a misguided ruse when women should be protesting alongside men in the streets.[ In 1915 he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy and released after a public campaign in March 1916. After his arrest, ]Donald Grant
Donald MacLennan Grant (26 February 1888 – 11 June 1970) was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World in Sydney, a member of the Sydney Twelve charged with conspiracy in 1916, and later a member of the Australian Labor Party who was e ...
publicly stated: "For every day that Tom Barker is in jail it will cost the capitalist class £10,000".[
In 1916, with enthusiasm for Australia's participation in ]World War I
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 fightin ...
spreading through the ruling government, opinion was still deeply divided and political life dominated by the debate on conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
, the anti-war movement "NO", and by political gridlock and the arrests of trade unionists accused as conspirators under Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes
William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...
, who founded the Nationalist Party.
Barker protested and marched for twelve arrested trade unionists of the IWW, the so-called Sydney Twelve
The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the ''Crimes Act 1900'' (NSW) Treason-Felony. which incorporated the Treason Felony Act 1848, ...
, which were charged with conspiracy. Many believed they were framed for their anti-war and anti-conscription views. The unionists were found to be in violation of the Unlawful Associations Act (1916), an initiative the Federal Parliament adopted in December 1916 under the Hughes cabinet, which considered certain IWW members to be involved in a conspiratorial organization. They were also charged with being involved in series of arson and a counterfeiting scheme. He led numerous organizations around the globe to protest these charges and petition the government to change its decision, although these efforts proved fruitless.[
Barker designed and published the famous Australian anti-war and anti-conspiracy poster stating: ''TO ARMS !! Capitalists, Parsons, Politicians, Landlords, Newspaper Editors, and Other Stay-at-Home Patriots. Your Country Needs You in the Trenches! Workers, Follow Your Masters!''.
Another poster, also attributed to Barker and distributed, shows a crucified soldier on a cannon while "Mr. Fat" fills his glass with war profits. This poster caused his arrest and the imposing of a prison sentence.][Sleeve notes from ''Andy Irvine - Way Out Yonder'', Andy Irvine AK-2, 2000.] He was released in 1918 and deported from the country on the first ship that would take him - a ship bound for Santiago, Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...
.
Abroad
In Chile and Argentina, he organized maritime workers unions into strikes for better conditions and wages. He began cooperating and working with Soviet ambassadors and liaisons, building rapport with the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The Soviets recruited him to aid in their Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony
The Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony was an experiment in workers' control in the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1926 during the New Economic Policy. It was based in Shcheglovsk, Kuzbass, Siberia.
History Creation of the Autonomous Industrial C ...
project in which they would experiment Workers' control
Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christian ...
. He enlisted technicians in the United States until 1926 to join the project. Later he worked for a Soviet oil company.
From 1930 to 1931, Barker lived in Australia and then went to the United Kingdom, where he worked as an employee of an electric power company London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. As a member of the British Labour Party, he was elected a councillor on St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council
St Pancras was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board ...
. When he was later elected mayor, Barker reportedly raised a red flag.
He remained politically active until around the age of 70. Barker died in London, at the age of 83.
In popular culture
Tom Barker is one of the six Australians whose war experiences are presented in ''The War That Changed Us
''The War That Changed Us'' is a 4-episode Australian television documentary series presenting the true stories of six Australians in World War I. The series, produced by Electric Pictures, based on an original concept by historian Clare Wrig ...
'', a four-part television documentary series about Australia's involvement in World War I.
Barker became a popular figure internationally for working class movements. His name has been used on occasion in songs of the labor movement. In the song "Gladiators", which was sung by Andy Irvine on the album ''Way Out Yonder
''Way Out Yonder'' is the twelfth album released by the Sons of the San Joaquin
The Sons of the San Joaquin is an American Western family band. Jack and Joe Hannah are brothers, while third member Lon Hannah is Joe's son. They began performing ...
'', the life and political work of Barker is discussed in great detail.
Literature
*Eric Fry: "Barker, Tom (1887 - 1970)". ''Douglas Pike (Hrsg.): Australian Dictionary of Biography''. Volume 7: 1891 - 1939. A - Ch. Melbourne University Press, Carlton Victoria 1979, , S. 174–175.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Tom
1887 births
1970 deaths
Industrial Workers of the World members
New Zealand trade unionists
New Zealand socialists
English emigrants to New Zealand
Labour Party (UK) councillors
Mayors of places in Greater London
Members of St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council