THE NATIONAL AMALGAMATED UNION OF LABOUR - HAYES

GENERAL UNIONS COME TO HAYES

"Not his masters voice, but the workers voice"

THE Nationa AMALGAMATED UNION OF LABOUR (NAUL)

The first general trade union to begin union organisation in the new factories of Botwell, Hayes, West London at the beginning of the twentieth centaury was the National Amalgamated Union of Labour (NAUL).

The Hayes branch of the National Amalgamated Union of Labour was established in September 1911 with a subscription rate of 4d per month, meeting every Friday evening at the Old Crown, Hayes. Middlesex.

Mr T.E. Smith of Gravesend was the National Amalgamated Union of Labour organiser, who began the union drive in the Hayes factory recalled that when he first came to Hayes he had found that the workers “had held aloof from the trade union for fear of being victimised”.

Smith himself had been active in NAUL recruitment on the Clyde in 1911 and was also working on the establishment of a Southall branch of the NAUL.

In September 1911 Joseph N Bell (later Labour MP for Newcastle) spoke to over hundred and fifty men in Clayton Road calling upon them to “combine against capitalism” and W. Watts in January 1913 at Clayton Road schoolstated “In Hayes the future had a bright outlook if only the workers will grasp the weapon within their reach (trade union organisation) there was no time for delay he went on "The meeting in Hayes had been called to show the workers of Hayes the value of organisation, and to give the reason why a living wage (30 shillings a week) cannot be obtained in Hayes without it"

" It was the workers duty and it could be done by them in Hayes,other places had already done it, and they were there that night to convince the hayes workers that they could do it by organsing themselves in a trade union.....In Hayes the future had a bright outlook, if only the workers would grasp the weopon within their reach, there was no time for delay"

T. E. Smith NAUL Organiser stated "there again, there was danger that the men of hayes would be replaced by females, who would work for less wages. But in large industrial centres, Lancashire especially, this could not happen as the workers were organised, and so their trade union stopped it....By joining the trade union they would improve their conditions, and at Hayes, it wanted improving. the whole responsibility rested with themselves"

The NAUL circulated a leaflet around the Hayes area advertising factory gate meetings, one in early 1913 stated

"The Value of Organisation" Come in crowds and hear the truth of why you do not get a living wage in hayes, which is within the London County Council radius. Why remain outside and gamble ? Trust each other and join the union.

The local branch Secretary of the NAULMr W Watt stated "There is no reason why they should not call the local Gramophone factory, not his master voice but the workers voice"

An early test for the union was a strike at the Gramophone works, which erupted in June 1912, when over one hundred men struck. however the strike soon collapsed and non of the men on the original deputation to management got their jobs back.

Another strike took place in June 1913 in the press room at the Gramophone Company in Blythe Road after a wage cut of 3d per hour was imposed, The strike involving over one hundred men and picketing , collapsed when management threatened to sack the strikers, the leaders being dismissed and victimised, Mr T.E Smith of the NAUL heavily criticism those that returned to work. A poem during the strike printed to the local paper gives some insight into conditions faced by the factory workers at Gramophone

Oh dear, oh dear, this awful heat
It nearly suffocates us
If were compelled to stick it long
'twill simply spiflicate us
It didn't seem so 'badly' hot
When we full price, were getting,
But now they've knocked us three pence off
It really is upsetting
We only asked for more fresh air
That we might work the faster
'tis true we struck it several years
But now it's got our master
If they had granted us more air
When we like men applied
We shouldn't have had so much by far
As they've given as now "outside"
Of course it wasn't only air
Alone that we were asking
A few more "extra brads" was what
The "fresh air wheeze" was masking
Still were inclined to try again
Even if our pledge be broken
But we are just a bit afraid
"His master's voice has spoken".

In March 1916 J.A. Seddon MP spoke at a NAUL meeting in Hayes stating that he was "astonished to learn of the low wages some of the girls in the Hayes factories, but was glad tolearn thanks to trade union action a number of special improvements had been secured"

The local National Amalgamated Union of Labour (NAUL) branch Secretary was Mr F.G. Lingard of 9 Neild Road, Hayes

In 1920 The Hayes Branch Secretary of the NAUL was J.C. Haydon of 9 Glebe Road, Hayes, Middlesex. The Hayes NAUL was meeting in 1920 on Fridays at 7:30 at Hayes Restaurant. 

Other local branches included W.A. Taylor of 1 Victoria Cottage, The Green West Drayton meeting at the Kings Head Hotel on alternative Saturdays 7pm. 

W. Johnson 52 Great Road, Brentford meeting at the George the Fourth: and E. Archer 140 Duke Road, Chiswick W4 meeting at the Windmill Hotel: E. Foscali 48 Claxton Grove, Hammersmith meeting at the City Arms.

The NAUL had 44 branches in its London  Thames & Medway District in 1920 (383 nationally) mainly in Kent (especially Northfleet, Gravesend, Dartford area) and East London. 

THE WORKERS UNION

The National Amalgamated Union of Labour would lose its toe hold in the Botwell factories to the Workers Union (later TGWU) towards the end of World War One, thanks to the efforts of Frank Rosenberg the energetic Workers Union full time organiser and the Workers Union local leader Douglas Page. Page was born in Hammersmith in 1884 and came to Hayes in 1914 working as a beltman, he was a founder member of the Workers Union in Hayes, and became the Hayes Workers Union Branch Secretary by the end of World War One.

From 1924 Page he worked at HMV (later EMI) He was also a prominent Labour Councillor from 1924 and a towering figure in the Hayes Labour movement for the next fifty years. While the union he helped establish in Hayes, the Workers Union, later known as the Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU) would come to dominate Hayes for the next ninety years.

The National Amalgamated Union of Labour

The NAUL was established as the Tyneside & District Labourers Union in 1888, It quickly spread along the Tyne and North East waterfronts mopping up in its wake a number of small locally established societies of Scrappers, Painters, Red Leaders, Helpers and other shipyard labourers. By 1890 it boasted 80 branches with a listed membership of 30,937

William Unwin (Financial Secretary), William Stanley and Joseph N Bell (Corresponding Secretary) with A.T. Dipper (General & Organising Secretary) together with six District delegates, But their task was constantly thwarted by strikes and lock-outs, being forced in 1890 to spend 25.18% of income in strike benefits.

The NAUL were soon boasting District organisations in the Clyde, Belfast, Mersey, Sheffield, Thames and Medway together with their more traditional districts in the North East. 

By the time of the 21st Anniversary Celebrations in 1910, by far the largest of the Districts numerically was Sheffield (9,271). Even the combined strength of the three Districts of Newcastle (3,294), Gateshead (1,597), and Mid Tyne (3,080), on which the strength of the union had earlier been centred, could not surpass it. Only Mersey (7,419), London, Thames and Medway (7,874), and Shields & Wear (6,617) could attempt to rival it.

The NAUL had a considerable hold in the cement works along the banks of the Thames. In London some engineering workers were in the N.A.U.L. and it had a few members in the south-west in cement and one or two other industries

From 1917 the NAUL was in discussions with the Workers Union on possible merger, but a loser Federation was established, with a joint executive committee, this loose Federation was joined by the Municipal Employees Association in August 1918 and by 1919 the three union Federation became known as the National Amalgamated Workers Union.

 

However, the NAUL became convinced that the Workers Union was using superior numbers and its full time officers to dominate the Federation, this inflamed local disputes between two unions, this coupled with an economic depression and massive reduction in union members (which hit the Workers Union membership and influence most acutely) led to the Workers Union withdrawing from the Federation in March 1922.

National Amalgamated Union of Labour 

1890 82 branches 30,237 members

1900 177                  21.111

1910 177                  16,017

1911 227                   44,972

1912 236                   49,972

1913 255                  60,003

1914 277                  55,453

1915 287                  70,430

1916 292                   85,836

1917 323                123,627

1918 351                143,931

1919 370                155,220

1920 383                 151,922

* note the huge rise in National Amalgamated Union of Labour membership in 1911, 1913, 1915, and almost doubled in 1917

The NAUL would later join the National Union of General Workers to form the General & Municipal Workers Union , now known as the GMB

NOTE
The National Federation of Women Workers branch secretary was Mrs Hollings of 21 Leonard Road, Southall

Mr T.E. Smith National Union of Labour organiser lived at 183 Old Road, West Gravesend and later (1920) Hillersland, Lennox Road, Gravesend (information on Mr Smith most welcome)

T.E. Smith (JP) was a NAUL Official Delegate, London, Thames & Medway District

MORE PAY FOR THE FIGHTING FORCES (1942)

INTRODUCTION
Throughout three years of war, the question of servicemen's pay and allowances has been debated continually in the House of Commons. Again and again the trade union and labour movement has passed resolutions deploring the Government's, treatment of the men and women in the Forces and their families. Since September, 1939, the Government has announced piecemeal concessions for the Forces no fewer than nine times. Each new concession has been condemned in turn by the public as totally inadequate.

" The gallantry and endurance of these men and women can certainly never be measured in terms of money," said the Lord Privy Seal (Sir Stafford Cripps) on 10th September—presumably in order to justify the fact that hundreds of thousands of soldiers' wives are forced to undergo a Means Test in order to live.

He then went on to imply that the newest concessions were the Government's " final solution " so long as prices remained at their present level. On 8th October the Daily Herald reported that Labour M.P.s had once more decided to press for substantial inreases. On 26th November, further meagre concessions were announced in relation to' War Service Grants. These concessions will not satisfy the great majority of the people, who are determined that, once and for all, the men who are fighting the battle for world freedom, shall get a fair rate for the job.

Rates of Pay
The minimum rate of pay for a serving soldier is now 21 shillings a week. If married or with dependants, 3s. 6d. is deducted from this as allotment, leaving him with 17s. 6d. a week. After six months' service, proficiency pay amounting to 3s. 6d. a week may be granted if recommended by his O.C; unit—in the case of a soldier with dependants, this is added to his allotment. About one in, tour in the Army are non-commissioned officers or warrant officers. The minimum pay for a lance-corporal is 29s. 9d. per week. In addition there are a certain number of tradesmen earning slightly higher rates at a starting rate of 22s. 9d.

The above are the minimum rates only—the variations in rates of pay above this level are so complicated that one of the most urgent necessities is a implification of the whole system.

" There are nearly 200 different rates of pay in the Army alone. There are additions for service, education and proficiency, and higher rates for men enlisted before 31st October, 1925. There are lists of trades-men covering pages which are divided and subdivided ad in-finitum. . . . All these classes have to be listed, classified and re-classified, graded up or down, certified,published in orders or in the pay-master's book, until the whole machine is chock full of paper and several divisions of men have to be engaged in doing their best to disentangle this chaos and to explain to the soldier and his despairing relatives what their position really is; while the War Office go on day after day and week after week making confusion worse confounded by every patch work alteration that they make. The whole thing is plain, unadulterated, inexcusable chaos."—(Major
Milner House of Commons, 10th September.)


Undoubtedly, however, the overwhelming majority of soldiers in the British Army are receiving the basic rate of 21s. pluses. 6d. proficiency pay—if married, the allocation of allotment plus proficiency pay to their families brings them down to 17s. 6d. per week.

The men of the Air Force and Navy have the same starting rate as the Army, but the large proportion of men receiving tradesmen's rates in the Air Force and the various arrangements for additional pay make the latter's position in practice usually better than that of the men in the Army or Navy.

The women, in the A.T.S., W.A.A.F.S. and W.R.E.N.S. start at a rate of 14s. per week. If they have dependants, 2s. 4d. is deducted as allotment.

Finally, 6d. a day or £9 a year has been put aside for each serving man as from January, 1942, for use after the war, and 4d. a day or £6 a year for serving women.


The Family Allowance

The basic allowances for the married serviceman's family are as follows:

Wife (including allotment) 25s. 0d. per week.
First child ... ... ... 9s. 6d.
Second child ... ... 8s. 6d.
Third and subsequent child 7s. 6d.

These allowances include the concessions announced on 10th September, 1942. Wives living in the London postal area are granted an extra 3s. 6d. per week. These allowances are subject to increase by the addition of 3s 6d. proficiency pay and increased allotment arising from promotion.

The Dependants' Allowances

A person serving with the Forces who is not claiming a family allowance can claim a dependant's allowance for one dependant only, on condition that he provides 3s. 6d. allotment from his pay (2s 4d. in the case of a serving woman). The persons eligible for a dependant's allowance include a father, mother, brother, sister, grandparent, etc. The amount of allowance given depends firstly on the amount the serving man was contributing to the upkeep of the dependant before call-up. Thus, if he was contributing 15s. or less, 14s. will be the maximum allowance given including allotment; if he was contributing 2os. or more, 22s. will be .the maximum allowance granted. In the case of a dependant living alone, the maximum allowance given is 26s. including allotment, provided not less than 24s. was contributed to the dependant's upkeep before call-up.

These dependants' allowances are not automatically granted, however. They cannot be drawn until a Means Test has been satisfied followng a visit from an Officer of the Assistance Boardto the dependants concerned, who will take into account all the resources of the dependant along the lines of the Determination of Needs Act of 1941.

War Service Grants

In addition to the above allowances, the serving man may claim a special War Service Grant for his family (or, in certain circumstances, for a dependant). This Grant is only given after a Means Test and is supposed to ensure that no family falls below a certain level. To calculate-the amount of Grant given in each case, a sum in respect of fixed charges (e.g., rent, rates, insur ance premiums, etc.) is deducted from the total allowance. The resultant balance is then made up by means of the Grant to 18s. per unit of the family. One adult counts as a unit; children under 14 count as half a unit.*

For example, take the case of a wife with two children who is at present receiving the basic allowance of 43s. a week and paying a rent of £1 This would leave her 23s. for maintenance. Her War Service Grant would amount to 13s., making 32s. after rent is paid (i.e., for one unit and two
36s. after rent is paid (i.e., for one unit and two halves) and making the total allowance 56s.

The maximum Grant which can be given is £3 and before any Grant is allowed, the family is visited by an Officer of the Assistance Board who is allowed wide discretionary powers. The Grant is liable to be cut down as soon as the soldier's pay exceeds 4s. a day. Recently it was announced that wives in receipt of Grants would have no account taken of the first 20s. of their earnings, and as an encouragement to women, to take up part-time work this is certainly a step forward;

What the Rates Mean in Practice for the Service Man

The above is a brief outline of the serviceman's financial position—its deficiencies are glaringly obvious.

To take first the case of the single man in the Forces—he is clearly unable to mix on terms of equality with civilians when on leave or in his spare time. Thus the position of a naval rating on the lowest basic pay was described by Mr. Edwards, M.P, on 10th September. Though 21s. is his basic pay, he cannot expect to receive more than £1 after deductions. Out of this he has to pay for his own soap and soap powder in order to do" his own washing. Stamps for postage and
cigarettes may cost him us. 6d. a week..

". . . These rates allow that man, after he has had a smoke or written a few letters, about 9s., and everything he buys out of that is heavily taxed. . . ,
If be goes to the cinema it is taxed. If he buys a glass of beer, which nobody would deny him, it is heavily taxed. Whatever he does with that small amount of money, to take his mind away from the monotony of Service life, it is worth only half its face vahte by the time he comes to spend it. I take it that the Government do not intend to discourage marriage for men who are called up
during the war. Can anybody tell me whether a man can make any provision whatsoever, at present Service rates, to pay for marriage?"—(Mr. Edwards,M.P., 10th September.)

The fantastic variety of rates paid to tradesmen in the Army, though it may lead to confusion, does not mean that the soldier receives a trade union

"I have seen [service] men making runways on aerodromes side by side with men being paid at tradeunion, wages far above their own. ... In a particular R.A.F. maintenance unit of which I know,there is a corporal in charge of civilian mechanicswho are earning three or four times as much as thatcorporal. Yet one expects things to run smoothly."—(Major Profumo, M.P., 10th September.)

What the Allowances Mean for Serving Men's Families

While the serviceman's own position leaves much to be desired, the position of his family and relatives is a public scandal. It can be seen at a glance that the basic allowances for a wife and children mean starvation for any who try to exist on them alone.

The Government itself admits the inadequacy of these allowances in numerous ways. For example, it gives 10s. 6d. a week billeting allowance for every evacuee under 10 and more for older children up to l6s. 6d. a week. Yet these sums are only supposed to pay for food and the trouble to the foster parent—they do not cover clothing. Again, 25s. a week only is allowed for a soldier's wife— yet in Government training centres, 43s. is the starting rate for a woman—admittedly a very low wage. It is, in fact, clear that the Government do not expect a serving man's family to live on these allowances at all, in so far as they make up the pay of all civil servants who are called up to the rate of pay they were getting in civilian life.

What in practice happens to most of the wives and families of serving men? A certain proportion has been the average amount of grant in practice, given to these families, though the November concessions raising the .minimum standard from 16s. to 18s. may increase this average slightly.

There are no recent figures given of the number of families who have applied for a Grant and been refused. But what can be the effect on the morale of the half-a-million or so serving men who know' that their families are suffering the humiliation and indignity of a Means Test.

And when these families receive the War Service Grant, does this bring them in sufficient to live on?

On the contrary, the cost of a minimum standard of life " below which no worker should be forced to live " (first laid down by Mr. Rowntree) has been estimated, with the aid of surveys by the Oxford Institute of Statistics, at 94 shillings in April, 1942, for a family of man, wife and three children.*" Allowing for the 'absence of the man, the cost would be about 72s. 6d. (allowing rent and rates of 13s.). A wife paying 13s. rent and rates would receive with War Service Grants a maximum of 58s. for herself and three children—that is 14s. 6d. below the " rock-bottom " health standard.

* For full details of this calculation, see " Wages in 1942" L.R.D., August, 1942, 4d.). The statistical method 'used in calculating the cost of the standard when a man is called up was as follows:—The family of man, wife and three children is treated as equivalent to 3 and three quarter " men': without the father we reduced the cost to that for 2 and three quarters " men " (i.e., reduced it by four-fifteenths) except for rent, which: we excluded, since the family does not save any, rent by the call-up.


This is indeed a peculiar way of rewarding the gallantry and endurance " so readily spoken of by the Lord Privy Seal.

If there were more school feeding arrangements, play centres and day nurseries for their children, no doubt more of these servicemen's wives would be able to solve their financial problem by going to work—indeed, they are urgently needed in industry. But though much more is necessary in the way of such facilities, they will not solve everyone's problem, and, whether they are provided or not, the serving man still knows that he is practically the only man in the country doing a vital war job who is not paid a wage which his family can live on. •

A recent survey of Leeds families' budgets made by Mr. Charles Madge with the support of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research bears out the above:

" The prosperity of the Service wives is decided by three factors: whether they are working, whether. .they have children, and whether they are living with parents. At the top of the- scale is a belt of wives- who are really .well off. This belt comprises about one-fifth of all Service wives. . . The majority 'in -this belt were working, lived with their parents,and. had no children. But at the other end 'of the .scale there is a belt of similar size in which the wives Were heavily over-spending and running into debt. On an average they were spending 15s. 6d..a/week more than their income. .... All the wives in this belt lived alone, were not working, and had young children to support. . . ."(Quoted in Manchester Guardian, 9th October, 1942.)

Infinite suffering must also be experienced by other dependants such as widowed mothers living alone and too old to work, whose sole support in peace-time was the earnings of their sons. Such a mother can draw the maximum allowance of 26s.—she may, if she is lucky, have this sum supplemented by a few extra shillings in the form of War Service Grant.

The Pay of Allied Troops

The present rates of Army pay are founded on those_ paid to a tiny peace-time Army mainly recruited from among the unemployed. Every increase given since the beginning of the war has been given grudgingly in response to extreme pressure without any sign that the Government has noticed the fundamental change of status of the soldier in modem times, who ought to be regarded as a skilled worker entitled to a wage commensurate with the job he is doing.

There is a striking contrast between the allowances paid to British servicemen's families and those paid by the Dominion and American Governments. In the following table the amounts given for Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Americans have been transformed as nearly as possible into their quivalents in English currency at the present rate of exchange. The very high price level in America must, however, be borne in mind with regard to the American allowances:

Per week

.....................................British Canadian Australian New Zealand American

Solider without dependants…21/- …19/8… 39/2… 16/8… 70/-

Plus deferred pay given
him after discharge …………3/6 …20/8… 11/2… 26/2 -……….

Total single soldier………… 24/6… 40/4… 60/4… 41/11… 70/

Married soldier,
after deduction of allotment 17/6 ….19/8… 19/7… 16/9… 44/1

Wife allowance
(including any allotment)….. 26/-… 57/-… 42/-… 33/7… 58/1

Wife and 1 child ………….…34/6… 69/4… 58/9… 44/9+… 72/4

Wife and 2 children …………43/-…81/8… 69/11… 65/11+… 84/-


+ Plus domestic allowance of 5s. 11d.

A solider without dependants
Britain 21/- per week
Canadian 19/8 per week
Australian 39/2 per week
New Zealand 16/9 per week
American 70/- per week

Australian army pay includes recent increases announced in the Press but not confirmed by the representatives of the Australian Government over here

Though, as a result of the newest concessions, the weekly amount drawn by the British soldier is above that of his Canadian and New Zealand Ally (but well below the Australian and American) the amounts the British soldier will receive in the form of deferred pay and the allowances for wives and children, are far below those given to any of the Allies. It is clear that the newest concessions which gave substantial increase of'3s. 6d. a week to the serviceman while giving nothing to his wife and only a shilling or two to each of his children, were deliberately designed to even out the glaring disparity in pay between the British soldier and the American and Dominions troops over here.

The comparatively reasonable status of the latter's families back home cannot be so easily contrasted with their British counterparts.

Labour's Demands

The. Labour Party is making the following demands on behalf of the men in the Armed Forces:—

(i) An increase of 10 shillings. a week for the wife, making her total allowance including allotment 35 shillings.

(a) Increases on the present graduated children's scales so as to make the allowance 10 shillings a week for each child.

(3) Provision of a sum equivalent to 1 shilling a day extra for each soldier from which adjustments can be made to existing scales so as to remove anomalies, increase the lower rates and establish equal standard rates for the service performed.

(4) An increase of the minimum unit for War Service Grant to £1 (one pound) for the wife and to 10 shillings. for each child.

What are the arguments against such demands?

Firstly, in spite of the tremendous volume of protest on the subject, and the evidence from all
sides of the hardship among servicemen's families, Government spokesmen maintain that the present pay and allowances are sufficient. Thus, Sir James Grigg, Secretary of State for War, stated in the House of Commons on 10th September;—

". . . . having regard to all the circumstances at the present time, we have been reasonable and fair"
The main argument-used in opposition to raising the. pay and allowances is of course the cost. The exact cost of the proposed increases has not been estimated. But at most they would not amount to more than £100—£150 million a year. Yet at the moment £12 and three quarter millions is being spent every dayon a scarcity of consumption goods, a rise in purchasing power will automatically result in a rise in prices and everyone will be as badly off as before.
This is as good as saying that all scarce goods should be reserved for the rich who can afford to "
buy them. The labour movement will not be taken in by such arguments. The only solution is a living wage for everybody with proper rationing and price control of more consumption goods so that the latter are fairly shared out.

Soldiers' Pay and Workers' Wages

The low rate of Service pay is being used as an argument in some quarters to bring down the level of civilian earnings. Thus, Lady Astor, in describing the feelings of the soldier's wife with a large family who lives next door to a man bringing in £10 a "week suggests that the better paid worker should subsidise his unfortunate comrade in the Army:—

" I am certain that the men who are receiving these wages would be prepared, if you put it to them, to put back some of this money. I am certain that they are all prepared to do something to help the heroes who are daily sacrificing their lives."—(10th December, 1941.)

This line of argument has been echoed by a number of M.P.s in various debates.

Again the notes issued by the Economic League on 21st August, urging a " national wages policy " (i.e., control of wages) state as one of the arguments:—" The workers in the war industries might consider the comparatively small pay of the soldiers.

.... When we think of what the fighting men in Libya and Egypt and in Russia are going through, there, is something indecent in comparatively safe and comfortable wage-earners clamouring for more pay at home and threatening to strike if their. demands are not granted." : — Thus the low rate of Service pay is being used to attack the wage standards of the working class as a whole, and the bitterness that the man in uniform feels is being deliberately fostered to create antagonism between soldier and civilian worker.

Mr. Ernest Bevin said of this campaign:—
" The main concern of the men in the Forces is,what are they coming home to? The men in the Forces, a large number of whom are members of trade unions, are looking to the unions to maintain their standards. To try to set one lot of men against another, in pursuance of a political aim, is not conducive to a solution of the problem. I can produce hundreds of cuttings showing that this sort of thing has been deliberately carried on as a'political campaign, to try to put the trade unions in the dock, and to make it appear that they are neglectful of their brothers in the Forces. It is not true, and I repeat that with emphasis."—(21st October, 1942.)

The soldier has no trade union—he cannot organise and fight his own battle for higher wages. It falls to the trade union movement to take up the cudgels in his behalf. In this way real solidarity will be built between workers and soldiers and the men in the Forces will be given their due—the best that the country can give.
Labour Research Department November, 1942.

LOCAL HAYES NOTE
The poor pay of soldiers and the need for their families to rely on means tested benefits was the reason for the establishment of the Citizens Advice Bureau. In Hayes Reg Neal played a key role in establishing the CAB and giving advice

How much did a soldier earn in World in World War Two,WW2,WWII

Getting into the Union

The priorities of the Latin American Workers Association:

"It is important for migrant workers to have an independent base from which to organise.
"Since 1981 LAWA has had paid workers. The idea grew out of the Latin American Advisory Committee which was a charity and could not take on a campaigning role. LAAC did case work on employment problems, wages, holiday pay which had not been paid, and so on. (Initially the Latin American Advisory Committee led by Colombians and Chileans meet at North Kensington Law Centre, and later at the 510 Community Centre, Paddington)

"We decided to get involved with the trade unions and to organise within them. So we contacted the Transport and General Workers Union - International Branch. At that time we were quite naive and many of us were unwilling to get involved in the union because we had immigration problems. LAWA is campaigning for workers with these problems, and to get support, being in the union could help. This proved to be the case.

"The T&G was reluctant at first to have us as members because of our immigration problems; it could not give the legal back-up which was necessary because we could not go to court. Their help can only go halfway. The district official has been helpful though.
"In the end we succeeded in getting into the T&G as members. We felt that to simply have a legal advice centre was paternalistic and was in fact against the organisation of workers. We need to organise against deportations too.

"The T&G saw some potential for increasing membership in the cleaning sector where membership was declining, so they allowed us to join. We do not expect the union to do our work for us. It disagrees with some of our policies. For example we are against all deportations and immigration controls and we want a political debate about these issues.

"We do not agree with the government that 'unauthorised' workers (workers without work permits) are committing an offence. It is not an offence to work. The unions should fight for a process of authorisation for these workers. After all, 90 per cent of all workers in hotels, catering and cleaning are unauthorised, and there is widespread instability with few staying for lone in one job.

"The main achievements of LAWA are teaching Latin Americans how to organise under conditions where they were very scared by raids by the immigration authorities. In November 1985 13 unauthorised people were taken from a club at three in the morning. There were only eight people there, police were asking for names and when someone did not understand they were taken away. In the majority of cases the deportation order had already been issued, as soon as the visa expired the computer does it automatically.

"Unfortunately there is no unified anti-deportation campaign because of political differences between organisations; our experiences also differ. The Turkish community has an anti-deportation campaign and they were involved in the dispute at Wimpey (a chain of hamburger restaurants). The Union of Turkish Workers was in the T&G International Branch but they have now left. They are concentrating on strengthening their own organisation. The GMBATU has appointed a Turkish worker as a part time officer and they are recruiting Turkish workers directly into the union.

"Cleaners have been organised in DH Evans, Debenhams, Sel fridges (all large stores), the Hilton and a casino and some other hotels in central London. We had recognition in all these places by the end of 1983. But we have now lost recognition in most of these because new contracts have been introduced."

Unions in Shop Cleaning Selfridges
Roberta, who was a shop steward at Selfridges, talked about the development of unionisation at the store.

The TGWU 1/1647 branch first won recognition for 160 cleaners at Selfridges during a union campaign which ran between 1981 and 1982

"At the height of organisation 50 to 60 workers would attend union meetings. But when action was needed there was no way that workers with immigration problems could take part in a picket, so we had to negotiate. During the years of organisation there were four strikes against Exclusive (Brengreen). They were aimed at forcing the company to change to two-weekly payment of wages at the beginning of 1984 (monthly payment of wages makes keeping up with rent and other commitments much more difficult); a wage increase in July 1984 (this was won within half an hour of the cleaners stopping work); preventing a clocking-in system (considered by the workers to be "inhuman" - if they do their job what more does the company want?).
"After these three successes the union was very strong, with almost 100 per cent membership. The company then started to try and split the workforce by employing more Moroccan workers who they thought would not be able to communicate with the Latin American shop stewards and would not join the union. But after producing information in Arabic for the Moroccans they started to join. Exclusive employed a black supervisor who was told that the Latin Americans were "racist" so they should not be employed. By August 1985, 20 Moroccans had joined the union."

A few months later the union suffered a crushing defeat at Selfridges when Brengreen lost the contract to Pritchards who refused to recognise the union, and would not take on most of the previous work force, bringing in new workers. The work force has been cut to 80 cleaners but Roberta believes that there is a possibility of organising there in the future. Exclusive has moved many of the Selfridges cleaners to other contracts where their union experience will help them to form new branches. There are possibilities of recognition at Army and Navy Stores, DH Evans, and Charing Cross Hospital. However, in the summer of 1986, Brengreen was taken over by BET (see table p3).


EL MOPO (THE MOP)

Selfridges and Debenhams store cleaners' union bulletin

El Mopo (The Mop) is a regular bulletin produced initially by the Latin American Workers working in contract cleaning in big stores along Oxford Street, it is produced every three weeks in Spanish and occasionally in English. The print run started at 100 it was by the mid 1980's up to 350Combining the style of a community and trade union paper, El Mopo keeps members informed about negotiations and pay disputes. Discussion is not just on work place issues, but also about wider political issues. It takes the message about unionisation into the community. Producing issues in English too is considered important so that British workers can learn more about what migrant workers are facing.

Some extracts from El Mopo:

"We live an unstable and worrying life, caught between intransigent, greedy and exploitative employers and inhuman governments' laws. Wages shrink from day to day, there is massive unemployment, and there is poverty.
"Cleaning is not covered by the wages councils. As a result the only law there can be is that of the union agreement. Without a union there is no law. Wages Councils set minimum wages at £1.89 an hour for supermarkets, £1.74 for hotels, and the government wants to reduce them!"

In another issue El Mopo writes about cleaners in Merseyside (in the Northwest of England). Five hundred of them cleaning public buildings had joined the T&G to fight wage cuts when the Fair Wages Resolution was abolished. After a six day strike they won a wage rise instead of the threatened cut.

A charter for contract cleaners was drawn up following this victory, including the demands that when a cleaning company lost a contract the T&GWU members should stay; and a two week minimum holiday.

El Mopo said that three years ago it would have seemed only a dream that the Selfridges and Debenhams cleaners could have organised themselves to "discuss with their powerful managers directly." One of the last mass meetings had elected a Moroccan worker as one of their shop stewards - management attempts to divide them had failed, but the contracting system had got them.

Achievements of the Union for Selfridges Cleaners

A room for cleaners to rest and talk
1983 wage rise
Refusing the clock
Three weeks holiday pay for full-timers
Two weeks unpaid holiday for part-timers and the guarantee of their job back afterwards More job stability
A friendly atmosphere for the cleaners who organised parties and trips
Advice sessions
Overcoming the racism between some cleaners.

NOTE
In 1972 a group of Portuguese hotel and catering workers members of a community association called the Portuguese Educational & Cultural League came up with the idea of a separate branch for Portuguese workers and set up initially a Portuguese TGWU branch but soon renamed the International Workers Branch of the TGWU as more. The Portuguese community are still working as part of CGIL (abroad)

Much of the work for TGWU unionisation of cleaners in Oxford Street was based on the experience of the Garners Steak Houses strike in the 1970's spearheaded by Westminister Trades Union Council and Phil Pearson.

A "Night Cleaners Action Group" organised by May Hobbs a cleaner with the support of socialists and feminists between 1970-1972 had some success in highlighting the plight of low paid women workers and even organised two strikes which secured pay rises (Sheila Rowbotham)

Bel Mooney The Night Cleaners Campaign, The New Statesman 12th May 1972

Michael Walker

Notes from Twilight Robbery by Philip Pearson and Beyond the Pail by the Transnational Information Centre (London) Jeremy Landor (The later dedicated to Ever Marin, London cleaner, union organiser, human rights worker, murdered by right wing death squad in Columbia while on visiting home in Columbia 10th October 1986)

Sussex for the People 1939

Last December 1938, in the House of Commons, Lieutenant Colonel Stephenson-Clarke, Conservative member for East Grinstead, opposed a private member's bill that sought to give the public access to mountains and moorlands. He described it as an attack on the rights of property, but it is really he who has taken away our rights.

Sussex belongs to the People. It is OUR county. Its natural beauty, its rolling downs, its Weald and seashore are ours to enjoy, and not the privilege of a handful of land owners who have stolen them from us.

Its history is OUR history and the history of our forbears. It is along history—a history of heroic struggles. It was here that De Montfort defeated the king and gained for us the right to be represented in Parliament. It was here and in our neighbouring counties that Jack Cade led the peasants in arms against an unjust and plundering government. It was here that Tom Paine lived and spread his influence.

Men like Shelley, Trigger and Deryk Carver are not mere shadows of the past. They are a pattern for us and for all Sussex men. They are OUR people and their struggles are our heritage. The men of Alfriston, who met nearly 150 years ago to form the first Sussex Trade Union, the men and women who started a Co-operative movement in this county, with a history that goes back further than that of the Rochdale Pioneers, the men and women who fought in the Labourers' Revolt of 1830—these are our heroes and we honour their memory.

In the same way we/honour the men and women who in 1920 founded the Brighton Communist Party, those who fought in the Battle of Lewes Road, those who were with the unemployed when they marched to London in 1932 and again in 1934, those whose shouts and cries of anger spread along the South Coast when Mosley brought his hired thugs from London to attack the rights of our people, those who came on to the streets when the Nazi Police came to insult us in our own towns, and the Men of Sussex who fought with honour against the onslaught of fascist barbarism in Spain, some of them giving their lives. These are our people, our leaders, our brothers and sisters. The men in the past ' who struggled are our ancestors, not the long tedious succession of Saxon Kings and Norman Barons, Fuedal Lords and Chief Constables, Sheriffs, Lord Lieutenants and Mayors.

We are proud that our history is one of struggle. The struggles of the past give us courage for the greater struggles that are to come.The common people built this Sussex—this England, which others enjoy. But following in the footsteps of another great people who have built a land of Socialism over one sixth of the world we too shall strive to achieve the victory of Socialism.

I conclude with the words of a Sussex poet—Percy Shelley, whose words are a call to action for all Sussex people.

'Rise like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number.
Shake your chains to earth, like dew
That in sleep had fallen on you.
Ye are many—they are few?



Sussex for the People
By Ernie Trory
Sussex County Committee of the Communist Party
First printed March 1939 (2,000) reprinted May 1939 (3,000)

Marx House 9/11 St Georges Mews, Trafalgar Square brighton
Engels Hall 97d Langney Road, Eastbourne
Robert Tressall House, Dorset Place, Hasting
Unity Hall, Norfolk Street, Worthing



Michael Walker

Soviet Airmen’s or Red Airmen's Song

Our planes are roaring, roaring for the battle,
High in the air above the clouds we speed,
Our bombs are ready, our machine-guns rattle,
Against the world’s imperialist greed,

Chorus

Flying higher, higher and higher,
Our emblem the Soviet Star,
And ever propeller is roaring,
Defending the USSR,

(shout) Red Front ! or (Shout) Y-C-L

But to the workers and the toiling masses,
A gleam of hope all our propellers whirl,
We drop them leaflets while we bomb their bosses,
The first Red Air Force of the world,

Chorus

Our proud machines obey our every order
There is no flight our pilots do not dare,
We form an iron ring above our border
The workers first squadrons of the air,

Chorus

And should dictators with snouts come rooting
Around the soil of our free Soviet land,
Our guns can sting the jaws that gape for looting,
Our bombs will smash the greedy hand

END

NOTES

other versions of Chorus

Flying higher, higher and higher,
Our emblem the Soviet Star,

And ever propeller is turning,
In defence of the USSR

or below the University Labour Federtation version

And ever propeller is roaring
Red Front ! Defending the USSR

Alternative...........................

Chorus

Flying higher, higher and higher,
Our emblem the Soviet Star
And ever propeller is turning,
In defence of the USSR,

(Shout) Y-C-L

or

And ever blade is turning
in defence of the USSR

This song was very popular amongst Communist Party and Young Communist League (YCL) members during and after the war, the Chorus often being sung on its own with great passion. (also with hand movements to replicate propellers turning).

The first version I can trace has words adapted by Randall Swingler of the Workers Music Association in 1939 costing 2d

Kevin Halpin states this chorus is correct

Flying higher, higher and higher,
Our emblem the Soviet Star,
And ever propeller is roaring,
Defending the USSR,

(shout) Red Front ! or (Shout) Y-C-L

"The Partisans" sang the song to the following words

We sail the sky as steamers sail the ocean.

We boldly fly where none has flown before.

Our arms are wings of metal swift in motion,

Our beating heart - the mighty engine's roar.

Fly higher, and higher, and higher -

Our emblem, the Soviet star

And every propeller is roaring

Defending the USSR.

Our watchful gaze explores the wide horizon.

Our iron nerves the elements defy.

To every foe, to any fighting challenge

Our mighty air fleet swiftly will reply.

(Chorus)

Our proud machines obey our every order.

There is no flight our pilots do not dare.

We form an iron ring above our border -

The workers' first great squadrons of the air.

(Chorus).

The Randall Swingler version starts with

Our engines roar the frozen air is cleaving
Red Square is darkened
Our guardian shade
And over lands and polar oceans
Weaving our cable lines of peace are laid

CHORUS
Higher and Higher and higher
Our emblem the Soviet star
And every propeller is roaring
Defending the USSR

Soviet or Red Airmen's Song

Michael Walker

SYD BIDWELL MP (1917-1997)

The Independent May 28th 1997, by Janey Buchan

The death of Sydney Bidwell brings to an end a life that was typical of the left-wing activist and organiser of his own and other times. In the days of the revolting sound-bite and whizz-kiddery which so disfigure politics now his way of thinking and working are held in no regard whatsoever by those who wouldn't know a pamphleteer and street-corner orator if they found them in their soup.

Syd started work as a van boy on the GWR and rose through the ranks there (as shunter, marshaller and goods guard) and through his union (the National Union of Railywaymen NUR). However, despite his closeness to the General Secretary, Sid Greene, he never won election to any executive thanks to the combined efforts of the right wing and the Communist Party, who resented his membership of the Revolutionary Communist Party, the Trotskyite wing. After 20 years, he left the railways to become a Tutor/Organiser for the National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) and like many people from similar backgrounds knew the width of interest of working people and helped organise appropriate courses and lectures in London and the Home Counties.

In 1964 the NCLC was taken over by the TUC, and Bidwell became the London Regional Education Officer for the TUC.

He fought parliamentary elections in 1959 in East Herts and 1964 in South Herts, and in 1966 succeeded George Pargiter as Labour MP for his native Southall, in Middlesex. Again his affection and pride in his own family was palpable as his father had been a founder - if not the founder - of Southall Labour Club.

It did not need the fact that Southall had a large Asian community to see Bidwell enter the battle against racism strongly. He, to his eternal credit, was at the forefront of the response to the dockers and meat porters who marched to the Commons in support of Enoch Powell in 1968, after his inflammatory speech on the dangers of immigration, and he played an honourable role in this whole field. Having been present at the riot in Red Lion Square in which the student Kevin Gately was killed in the 1960s, Bidwell came forward to give evidence to the Scarman Tribunal.

In 1976 he saw through Parliament a 10-minute bill exempting Sikhs from wearing crash helmets on motorbikes - this was contrary to their faith, which required them to wear a turban. Other countries followed suit. Bidwell was the only member of the Select Committee on Race Relations to serve for the whole of its existence. He visited India, the West Indies and the United States to gain a broader racial perspective, and wrote a book, Red, White and Black (1976), on the subject.

He chaired the London Committee of the Movement for Colonial Freedom and served as Chairman of the Tribune Group in the Commons but, again, parted company with others on the Left over the Common Market. He claimed that the Left's opposition offended his internationalism: we argued back that it would be the ruination of any hopes of the internationalism we all shared and tried to live our lives by.

He was deeply knowledgeable about Labour history in the widest possible sense of that term long before the Oral History Movement came into being. Again to his credit, he never attempted to rewrite the events and characters of Labour history as have some published diarists who for unfathomable reasons are always chosen to speak on it, and whose versions are accepted without question.

In 1992 there was a long-running and turbulent reselection battle which Bidwell finally lost. The NEC turned a blind eye to the irregularities he and others perceived to have been allowed to get him out. Bidwell stood as "The True Labour Candidate" in protest, and there was widespread concern in the Labour Party that he should have done so. This led to his exclusion from the party. The truth behind what happened and also the bypassing of the rules to readmit him to the party not long afterwards are for another place and another time, but since they have many parallels today the truth will emerge.

Whenever my husband, Norman Buchan (the Labour MP for Paisley South from 1983 until his death in 1990), and I urged everyone to listen to the songs and jokes generated by strikes, demonstrations and so on, but particularly at elections, Bidwell clearly thought we were at best frivolous and at worst absolutely nuts. When the Red Review group came together and enlivened the end of party conferences and the audience clearly delighted in their savaging of the Pretentious Tendency (worse than Militant any day) and sang and sang with them, we still couldn't enlist him. Never mind - even with the ruthlessly drilled and excluding team in charge at the moment there were two songs around of which audiences at either end of the country roared their approval; and the words of which I spent time faxing all over the place to lift the spirits of those whose long efforts to secure a Labour government are of long standing and were often at considerable personal loss. We shall keep the memory of people like Syd Bidwell in a true way if we refuse to be swept below the carpet or anywhere else. He loved politics and argument. He loved painting, the game of football and his wife, Daphne, and his family were the centre of his being.

He practised what he preached; a bit more of that nowadays would not go amiss. Sydney James Bidwell, trades unionist and politician:

Sydney James Bidwell born Southall, Middlesex 14 January 1917;
Member, Southall Borough Council 1951-55;
Member of Parliament for Southall 1966-74, for Ealing, Southall 1974-92;
Married 1941 Daphne Peart (one son, one daughter);
Died Hillingdon, Middlesex 25 May 1997.

British Racialism

By Sid Bidwell MP (Southall)
Labour Monthly - August 1969

In a sense, colour discrimination and other less seen forms of racialism in this country transcend normal concepts of class barrier and class exploitation. In another sense it is easy to see all the deficiencies of capitalist 'civilisation' at work making full use of racialism: hence Powellism.

In the black-brown-white conflict here, there is no new language code which does not remind us of Nazi-Mosley anti-Jew propaganda and activity. Read the fascist race literature now! Substitute Jew for coloured and it is the same half lie and blatant lie.

Those who peddle a supreme lie: alleging skin pigment and ethnic origin as a major factor determining some sub-standard behaviour have to falsify further. All racialists are habitual liars. Hear them describe occasions when there has been a fracas. Two or three coloured people become hordes.

In parliament some Tory MPs are better on this than a lot of Labour MPs. On the other hand there is no Labour MP who makes a fetish of hostile race and immigration questions.

It is no accident that Powell and his cohorts are reactionary on all other matters: economics, rents and housing, trade union shackles and so on. If Powell is more realistic on east of Suez military presence than Heath, it is certainly not because he is less 'Blimpish'. Today Heath has less working-class support than Powell. He stimulates the 'lumps' and backward elements. It is easier to stir them in a period of mass disappointment with a Labour Government.

Division is needed and easy to create.

The Rt. Hon. Enoch Powell, former front bench Tory, to all fascist-racialists in odd comers is the best bet as a leading name. Although they badly need him, there is little sign that he needs them or that he goes beyond receiving their congratulations. But he does not seem embarrassed by their attention.

The National Front (an amalgamation of the old British National Party and the League of Empire Loyalists) has shown signs of organised disruption leading to violence at meetings. Happily they show all habitual signs of splitting.

The fine work of students, trade unionists, real Christians and socialist-communists on friendship councils or community-relations helps enormously. Not least important is leadership of immigrant workers and their preparedness to encourage full participation in all working-class political activity. Already many coloured workers are winning spurs as shop-stewards. When such comrades are able to lead all types of workers we are sailing, and weak Powellism can be snuffed out at birth.

However, in the present political climate calling for maximum socialist unity, the need for vigilant determination to smash fascism is as important as in the days when I 'cut my teeth'in struggle against the Mosley blackshirts in the East End of London who were chanting 'The Yids! We've got to get rid of the Yids!' That seems only yesterday. -

The Factory Wall Newspaper WW2

By George Hill
Organising for Offensive Action
February 1943





A PROBLEM constantly before the Communist Party group in our factory, in the fight for increased production and national unity for victory over Fascism,, is how effectively to reach out to the majority of the workers and make them aware of our policy for victory.

We have found that the use of a wall-newspaper on the job is an excellent method of really getting close to the. people to whom we wish to speak. After the decision to produce the paper the first step to take is to approach the management .and ask for their co-operation and support in the production of the paper, explaining that its main policy will be "National Unity to Smash Fascism."

The job of the editor of the paper is to get around among the workers and ask them to write articles, and take personal responsibility for various jobs connected with the paper. These could include short articles giving, suggestions on how to increase production in their own department, responsibility for collecting cartoons and illustrations and cuttings, illustrations of articles, turning out a rhyme, and so on.

The aim must be to build up a staff of regular contributors, who alone can become the backbone of the paper. Prominent among these should be such leading figures as the convenor of shop stewards and the secretary of the Production Committee, who should take responsibility for writing their respective " reviews."

The Production Committee should also advise the editor and his helpers of those men and women who have made outstanding efforts in production, so that perhaps a photograph and a description of their achievement can be included. Other suggestions for contents include letters from the workers dealing with issues of general interest in the factory and on political questions of the day, jokes and illustrations which prevent the newspaper from being heavy, and " flashes " which are the witticisms and gossip on the job. Competitions and puzzles and the introduction of a " quiz " all help to make a well-balanced paper.

The work of the editor and his assistants is to determine the main slogan for each issue, and to go carefully through all the material handed in so that each issue is built around some main theme. The paper should be issued regularly, say fortnightly, and it is a useful idea to place boxes for contributions beneath it. Now for the technical production. This is extremely important.

Remember that the paper is read standing lip and the reader often has only a few moments to spend. It is necessary to get an attractive appearance,with well arranged material, and the use of colour to break up the articles and make it easier to read. The articles should be typed, and the possibility of duplicating or similar methods should be explored. For example, in many engineering firms the management has an apparatus for producing blue-prints by the photostat method, which is ideal for the production of a wall newspaper. It is essential, following the production of the paper, that there should be a discussion with workers on the job, getting suggestions and comments from them on ways of improving the paper in the next issue.

The accompanying illustration will give an indication of the appearance of our own wall-newspaper which we produce regularly on the above lines. Now for the technical production. This is extremely important. Remember that the paper is read standing lip and the reader often has only a few moments to spend. It is necessary to get an attractive appearance, with well arranged material, and the use of colour to break up the articles and make it easier to read.

The articles should be typed, and the possibility of duplicating or similar methods should be explored. For example, in many engineering firms the management has an apparatus for producing blue-prints by the photostat method, which is ideal for the production of a wall newspaper. It is essential, following the production of the paper, that there should be a discussion with workers on the job, getting suggestions and comments from them on ways of improving the paper in the next issue.

The accompanying illustration Chiswick Wall Newspaper News (above) for December 1942 will give an indication of the appearance of our own wall newspaper which we produce regularly on the above lines.

NOTE:
Abridged from Inprecor, the bulletin of the Communist International, February 1925

They had their origin on the revolutionary soil of the Soviet Union in the form of wall newspapers.

The factory newspapers of other countries including Great Britain, did not know until quite recently how to make use of this form of agitation in the factory newspapers.

The idea prevailed that ordinary Party newspapers deal with political questions, hence it is not necessary for factory newspapers to deal with them, and all our attention should be concentrated on the economic questions-within the factory by which means the interest of the masses in the newspaper should be aroused.

In some places one went even so far as merely to register factory events (this was done for instance in the first British factory newspaper) without showing the slightest intention to explain these events from a Communist viewpoint. This tendency exists to a certain extent. For instance in the Nine Elms Spark. The so-called factory nucleus newspapers of Germany, as for instance the Leder-Prolet are also to a certain extent tainted with this tendency.

The Communist International Organisation Conference condemned both tendencies and made it incumbent on factory newspapers to deal with all questions in a simple and concise manner:

• to illustrate questions in a way to allow workers to draw from, them political conclusions quite simply and naturally,

• to avoid abstract subjects, to deal with everything in a concrete manner,

• to describe conflicts between workers and employers, and incidents from the life of the working class,

• to avoid a stereotyped style in the factory newspapers.

Factory newspapers are to appeal to the indifferent masses who have frequently a very perverted notion about Communists and who never or hardly ever read a Communist newspaper. The task of factory newspapers is to win the masses for the Communist Party, for the struggle of the working class.

Therefore one should not allow the small everyday questions of the factory to be the widest perspectives of Communism.

Therefore it is essential to connect the small factory questions with the big political questions confronting the Party and to explain them to the masses

For instance in Great Britain the first factory newspapers were published without indicating that they are the organs of the nuclei, without producing the impression that they are Party newspapers. This was the case with the Nine Elms Spark. This was a mistake especially over there in Great Britain where the Party is confronted with the great task of making organisational capital out of the sympathy of the masses, in order thereby to transform the small Party into a
mass Party.

Factory newspapers are a means to educate for us proletarian editors and real proletarian writers. We will have to return to this subject many a time. Today we should like to say in conclusion: pay more attention to the question of factory newspapers. (source for CI -Workers Liberty web site)

Further Notes:

West Bengal Communist Party still uses daily Wall Newspaper on all major roads in the State


The cartoon of Stalingrad "The Modern Phoenix"

Peter Leonard Niall Smith

Peter Smith was born in Brighton, Sussex 10th May 1914 educated at Canford school and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge left with M.A. with honours degree in mathematics and English literature. On leaving University he took up teaching, but subsequently joined the staff of the International Peace Campaign.

He later became a scientific worker at a local Slough firm. Peter Smith became a leading light of Slough Communist Party from the early nineteen forties culminating in him standing as the Communist parliamentary candidate at the 1950 general election. Moved to Uxbridge becoming a company sales director in an engineering company. Peter Smith helped found Hillingdon Peace Council.

He joined the Labour Party primarily as a result of events in Hungary, but some in the local Communist party accused him of careerism. Peter soon took a high profile in the local Labour Party standing for the council (he was still standing in the 1980's) and being elected chairman of Uxbridge Labour Party. He took a great interest in educational matters and was a member of London Borough of Hillingdon Education Committee and governor of Bishophalt School. Later lived in to Ickenham. Married with one son. member of the Assoc of Scientific Workers Union.

WEST MIDDLESEX DISTRICT COMMUNIST PARTY

A NEW STAGE in the development of the Communist Party in West Middlesex was reached last weekend with the establishment of a new District Committee to cover the West Middlesex and Slough area of Greater London. .-

The new District has a population of over one million people and some of the largest of the light engineering factories in Greater London. These include E.M.I, at Hayes, the factories on the Great West Road like Firestones, Gillette, Tecalemit, and McLeans; it takes in the big Chiswick works of London Transport and the A.E.C. factory at Hanwell. Slough, with its great trad-
ing estate, also becomes part of the new District. Among the rail depots are Old Oak Common and Fulwell.

The West Middlesex D.P.C. takes in fifteeen borough organisations and nearly sixty Party branches, all of which were, up till now, the responsibility of the London District Committee. The total Party membership in the District at the end of 1949 was 1,744. The Boroughs are Acton, Brentford and Chiswick, Baling and Greenford, Feltham, Hayes, Heston and Isleworth, Northwood, Ruislip, Southall, Slough, Staines, Sunbury, Twickenham, Uxbridge and Yiewsley.

The initiation District Congress took place last week-end at the East Acton Co-op. Hall. One hundred and forty-eight full delegates attended, and, in addition, there were a number of fraternal delegates and visitors.
Comrade G. C. T. Giles, well-known as a headmaster in Acton and a member of the Party B.C., was the chairman of the Congress. Comrade Peter Kerrigan made the opening political report on behalf of the Executive Committee.

Congress elected a new D.P.C. of twenty-nine members. At a short meeting held immediately after its own election, the D.P.C. appointed Comrade Abe Lazarus as its new District Secretary. Comrade Abe Lazarus was for many years District Secretary of the Party in the South Midlands. He was born in Chiswick in 1911, joined the Party in Hammersmith in 1930. He played a leading part in the 1933 strike for T.U. recognition at the 'Firestone tyre factory,

which is on the Great West Road at Brentford. A year later found him leading a successful strike for trade union recognition at the big Pressed Steel factory at Cowley, Oxford.

Congress unanimously adopted three resolutions.The main resolution endorsed the policy of the Party laid down at the 21st National Congress and as outlined, in the E.C.'s Political Letter of March 16. (1950)

Congress registered its protest at the suggested ,increase in London fares and instructed its District Secretary to appear at the hearings of the Tribunal and oppose the increase on behalf of the District Committee;

In response to the appeal for a fund of £150 with which to launch the new D.P.C., the boroughs, branches ; and industrial groups sent to Congress £103, which was handed up to the chairman.

The temporary headquarters of the West Middlesex District of the Communist party are at 85 East Avenue, Hayes. Middlesex.

World News & Views 1950

Abe Lazarus

Lazarus was born, from a Jewish background, in Chiswick in 1911 and joined the Communist Party at Hammersmith in 1930. He played a key role in the Firestone strike in 1933 at Brentford for union recognition and thus secured the nickname “Bill Firestone”. He was later central to work at the then new Pressed Steel factory in Cowley in 1934, which was successful in securing union recognition.

Union officials believed that plant, whose workforce was recruited from among local women and unemployed miners from South Wales, was un-organisable. But the Communist dominated local Hunger March Solidarity Committee, formed to greet unemployed marchers from South Wales, began to give attention to this task.

In July 1934 a dispute on the night shift over piece rate developed into a walkout. The Communist Party sent Abe Lazarus, largely because of his work at Firestones, to Oxford. He formed a rank and file strike committee and recruited the workforce into the TGWU. After six weeks, the company conceded union recognition and shop steward organisation. After the strike the TGWU 5/60 branch which covered the factory secured virtual 100 percent union membership.

Involved in the Thames Valley bus strike of 1937, Lazarus narrowly missed being elected as a Communist councillor in Cowley in 1937. He became Communist Party District Secretary in the South Midlands in 1939 and the District Secretary West Middlesex in 1950.

Acton Communist Party

Acton Communist Party Established 1920

In June 1920 J.E. Scott announced the formation of the Acton Communist Party by discontented members of the Acton and Chiswick branch of the Herald League.

The parliamentary constraints of the old parties and organisations were now hampering revolutionary propaganda, as Scott notes: "We have stood always for the Revolution and the extreme propaganda but could not carry on whilst affiliated to the National Labour Party through no fault of our own" (The Spur, July 1920).


Another Scott prominent in the Communist party was J.R. "Joe" Scott, Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) , London organiser and Executive member of the AEU from 1942 as well as Communist Party Central Committee member from 1929 into the 1950's.

He was working at De Havillands, North London in 1926 and successfully induced the workers there to walk out before the Engineers were officially called out in the second week.

He was also a leader of the Metal Workers minority Movement


Acton Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE but later AEU) was established in 1914 with Mr G. Lees as Secretary of the Acton branch.

Mr A. Swales was AEU District Organiser for Acton in 1917
Mr A.G. Krull was Acton AEU Chairman in 1917

In March 1919 3,000 on strike in Acton at Engineering works primarily Napiers (and Rotax Motor Accessories) also Engineering factories at Kingston

large crowds gathered in Acton Vale and Warley Way.

Communists had a banner "The dawn is breaking" present

injunctions awarded against Acton and Kingston branches of the AEU secured in February did perturb the union.

Electricians on strike in Feb 1919 at Berwick's, napier's. W & G's, C.A.V, and Wilkinsons in Acton


"Napiers was the centre of the storm The "Shop" is known to contain some keen Socialist agitators" according to local Acton Gazette & Express Friday February 14th,1919


December 1922 West London branches of the Workers Union held a meeting in Acton Miss K. M ??? Women's Organiser and delegate to the Washington Peace conference was chief speaker with Mr C. Duncan MP

Mr F.W Carter District Organiser of the Hammersmith Workers Union (Local Acton Labour Party President from its inception in 1918) who stated the Workers Union now has three branches in Acton, and one each at Chiswick and Ealing
NOTE:

(Hayes HMV (EMI) being the other large Workers Union branch in West London)