The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. It aimed at drawing attention to the plight of

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...

workers during the post-First World War slump, the 1926 General Strike and later the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and at fighting the

Means Test A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government benefits, assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do with less or none of that help. Means testing is ...

Activities

The NUWM was founded by Wal Hannington and led in Scotland by Harry McShane. From 1921 until 1929 it was called the National Unemployed Workers' Committee Movement. The NUWM became the foremost body responsible for organising the unemployed on a national basis in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, these years being characterised by high levels of unemployment. A central element of its activities was a series of

hunger march Hunger marches are a form of protest, social protest that arose in the United Kingdom during the early 20th century. Often the marches involved groups of men and women walking from areas with high unemployment to London where they would protest ou ...

es to London, organised in 1922, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1936. The largest of these was the National Hunger March, 1932, which was followed by some days of serious violence across central London with 75 people being badly injured, which in turn led directly to the formation of the

National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes huma ...

. To the dismay of many within the wider labour movement, the Labour Party and the official trades union bodies offered little support to the legions of unemployed workers during this period. The

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

and the National Executive Council advised Labour parties and trades councils along the route of the Jarrow Crusade not to help the marchers, although local branches were more generous.

Industrial unionist breakaway

In 1923 Gunnar Soderberg led a breakaway group called the Unemployed Workers' Organisation (UWO), the views of which were based on the

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organising method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in b ...

of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

. They objected to the abandonment of the revolutionary goal of abolishing the wages system in favour of work at trade union rates or maintenance at trade union rates. They had close links to '' Communist Workers Party'' but only gained a significant following in Poplar during the 1923 Docks Strike. It did not survive long after a physical attack on its members on 26 September 1923 in

Poplar High Street Poplar High Street is a street in Poplar, London, Poplar, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Although the street became less used after 1860, it had previously been the principal street in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar. Notab ...

by the police, which left 40 members in hospital. Wal Hannington filled in for

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1 ...

at a meeting held in Glasgow City Hall shortly afterwards. He criticised the UWO and defended the actions of the Poplar Board of Guardians, who had called in the police.

End of the NUWM

It suspended activity in 1939, at the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the decision to wind it up was taken in 1943. It was finally dissolved in 1946. Over the years there have been several attempts to revive the movement, one of the most recent being around 1992.

References

External links

Why Are We Marching?

Activities

Industrial unionist breakaway

End of the NUWM

References

External links

Further reading

See also