1889 London dock strike

The 1889 London dock strike was an

and the dockers' cause attracted considerable public sympathy.

Background

Colonel G. R. Birt, the general manager at the

, gave evidence to a Parliamentary committee, on the physical condition of the workers:

The poor fellows are miserably clad, scarcely with a boot on their foot, in a most miserable state ... These are men who come to work in our docks who come on without having a bit of food in their stomachs, perhaps since the previous day; they have worked for an hour and have earned 5d.; their hunger will not allow them to continue: they take the 5d. in order that they may get food, perhaps the first food they have had for twenty-four hours.^[2]

Prior to the strike, few dockers were organised, but once it began, the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union recruited a substantial section of the London docks workforce. The principal demand of the agitation was for the dockers' tanner, meaning a rate of sixpence an hour. The strike was noted for large, peaceful processions which impressed middle class opinion and won sympathy for the strikers' cause from figures such as Cardinal Manning, who acted as meditator between the striking workers and the dock owners. He was seen as fair and impartial by both sides. Upon the resolution of the strike, the dock workers collected £160 for Manning in appreciation of his work, and Manning donated the money to a local hospital to provide a bed.

Notable organisers who came to prominence during the strike include

.

The London Dock Strike was preceded by several other developments which marked the emergence of a new mood amongst the unskilled. The strike of match-girls at the

were amongst these omens. The dockers' strike was more dramatic than these disputes however, because of the sheer number of workers involved, the poor reputation that dockers previously enjoyed, and various other aspects of the dispute.

Dispute

The dock strike began over a dispute about 'plus' money during the unloading of the Lady Armstrong in the

49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers

) had cut their 'plus' rates to attract ships into their own docks rather than others.

The strike relief fund was supported by £30,000 donated from Australia.[4]

Evaluations

From the Catholic Church's point of view, Cardinal Manning's involvement in the strike, as a mediator trusted by both sides, could be seen as foreshadowing the

, but rejected socialism and affirmed private property rights. ("Each needs the other: capital cannot do without labour, nor labour without capital. Mutual agreement results in the beauty of good order, while perpetual conflict necessarily produces confusion and savage barbarity".)

Robert Speaight, a biographer of Hilaire Belloc, noted that Cardinal Manning's involvement in the Dock Strike made a major impression on Belloc, 19 years old at the time, who was to become a major speaker for the Catholic Church during the early 20th century. As retrospectively told by Belloc himself in The Cruise of the Nona (1925), the example of Cardinal Manning influenced him to become a trenchant critic both of unbridled capitalism and of many aspects of socialism.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Stepney Historical Trust

References

Sources

• Duffy, A. E. P. "New Unionism in Britain, 1889-1890: A Reappraisal," Economic History Review (1961) 14#2 pp 306–319.
• Lovell, John. Stevedores and dockers: a study of trade unionism in the Port of London, 1870-1914 (1969)
• Oram, R. B. "The Great Strike of 1889." History Today (Aug 1964_ 14#8 pp 532–541.
• Ben Tillett Memories and Reflections (London, 1931)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London dock strike of 1889.

• The Great Dock Strike at the PortCities project
• Top of the docks How social hierarchy determined the outcome of the 1889 London dock strike
• Trade Union Ancestors
• "1889: The Great London Dock Strike". libcom.org. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013.