William McLaine (1891–1960) was an engineer, Marxist and

trade union 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 benefits ...

activist. McLaine worked as a

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...

and joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) in 1912. He became secretary of the Manchester No.2 branch in 1916. Opposed to

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 ...

, he joined the British Socialist Party (BSP) and was elected to its central committee in 1918. During this period, McLaine worked with William Leonard and John Maclean in running classes for the Scottish Labour College. At the Easter conference of the (BSP), which was held at Bethnal Green Town Hall between 4 April 1920 and 5 April 1920, John MacLean used the occasion to denounce the BSP party leaders as being police spies, an accusation for which there was no evidence. According to MacLean, a private meeting was held at which McLaine was instructed, alongside Willie Gallacher to report to

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

himself that MacLean was no longer reliable as he was suffering from "hallucinations". McLaine then attended the

2nd World Congress of the Comintern The 2nd World Congress of the Communist International was a gathering of approximately 220 voting and non-voting representatives of Communist and revolutionary socialist political parties from around the world, held in Petrograd and Moscow from Ju ...

, along with

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with t ...

Marjory Newbold Marjory Newbold (25 May 1883 – 15 November 1926) was a leading Scottish socialist and communist, prominent in the Independent Labour Party and in the 'Red Clydeside' movement demanding reforms for the working class. Newbold organised pacifist ...

, Willie Gallacher and others, McLaine and

Tom Quelch Thomas Quelch (1886–1954) was a British journalist and the son of veteran Marxist Harry Quelch. a member of the British Socialist Party in the early part of the 20th century, becoming a communist activist in Great Britain in the 1920s. Quelch ...

representing the BSP which shortly afterwards became part of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Whilst in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

McLaine was appointed to the Provisional International Bureau and the Executive Committee of

Kultintern Kultintern was an international organisation set up to enable the Russian Proletkult organisation to work with an international network of contacts alongside the Comintern. Its goal was to spread "proletarian culture". It was first proposed in an is ...

. Although McLaine did not return to the Scottish Labour College, he remained active as an educationalist with the

Plebs League The Plebs' League was a British educational and political organisation which originated around a Marxist way of thinking in 1908 and was active until 1926. History Central to the formation of the League was Noah Ablett, a miner from the Rhondda ...

and later the

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...

(NCLC) publishing a series of articles called "Economics without Headaches". These articles were subsequently published as a book, ''An Outline of Economics''. However, in time McLaine became unhappy with the new party, and resigned from it in 1929, later becoming actively anti-communist. In 1939 McLaine gained a PhD from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. His thesis was entitled ''The Early Trade Union Organisation among Engineering Workers''. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the NCLC decided they wanted a postal course to train

shop stewards 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 ...

. McLaine drafted the course for them. In 1950 the AEU approached the NCLC as regards running a course on Industrial Management. James Millar, General Secretary of the NCLC immediately agreed, even though he wasn't sure how the course would be delivered. He contacted

Frank Chapple Frank Chapple, Baron Chapple (8 August 1921 – 19 October 2004) was general secretary of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU), a leading British trade union. Frank Chapple was born in the slum area of ...

, Nancy Hewitt and Billy Hughes who worked together as a team to deliver the course.

Works

* (1917) ''Trade Unionism at the Cross Roads'' London: British Socialist Party * (1920, with

Report as to the Communist Movement in Britain
''The Communist International'', June–July 1920, no.11-12, pp. 2241–46 * (1920)
An engineer in Soviet Russia
in '' A.E.U. Monthly Report and Journal'', October 1920. * (1921) ''An Outline of Economics'' London: Plebs League, subsequently revised by Tom Colyer in 1932 * (1939) ''The Engineers' Union: Book 1 Millwrights and 'Old Mechanics (PhD Thesis,

) * (1948) ''New Views on Apprenticeship'', London: Staples Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaine, William 1891 births 1960 deaths British Socialist Party members British trade unionists British educational theorists Communist Party of Great Britain members