The Cine Technician (1938-1939)

March— April, 1939 THE CINE TECHNICIAN 193 Legally some associations of employers, and even certain kinds of trade associations, are Irade Unions, but such organisations could not qualify for affiliation to the T.U.C. We would never consider affiliation from an association of employers. The original purpose of Trade Union organisation was to protect work people from external attacks on wages and conditions — not to protect them against themselves. Most employers' associations were formed in the face of internal competition or lack of co-operation. As a result Trade Unions have greater cohesion and internal solidarity than have employers' associations. Not only is the Trade Union movement democratic but it is non-exclusive. Trade Unions are not exclusive in the sense that they do not, in this country, exclude people on the grounds of religion, race or politics. Inside the movement every individual member has the right to express his own opinion and vote in some democratic form. The purpose of Trade Unionism is to protect the work people against their employers, and in fulfilling that function we see no reason for distinguishing on such grounds as religion, race or politics. We do distinguish in that we do not normally allow inside the Trade Union movement people who have no direct interest in the work that the Trade Unions are doing. The essential function of a Trade Union is to negotiate with the employer. Our essential purpose is to unite work people who work and serve a particular employer or industry or industrial group, so that you, for example, would not allow into membership of A.C.T. a man who was a cotton weaver, not because of his politics or race or religion, but because he had no reason to be a member of A.C.T. The function of your Union is to represent, as employees, people employed on the technical side of film production. We have not been cluttered up in our movement generally by what is known as the "intelligentsia." Such people have not been encouraged to come inside the Trade Union movement. We have been free from irrational action which would have led us to dissipate our strength and divert us from our essential purpose. Why did the movement known as Trade Unionism take its present form? The explanation is simple. We have to go back quite a long way — back to the time when there was very little industry in this country, in fact none at all. Back to the time when the Government, by one method or another, accepted responsibility for regulating the relations between "workmen" and master. But when the market extended to oversees, the "middleman" began to come between the producer and the consumer, and a stimulus was given to mechanical invention and large scale factrry production under capitalistic control. As a result the craftsman became for the first time in history a hir<*d workman with no prospects of ever becoming a master of his craft. Not only did this happen, but the development also removed from the political consideration of the country the idea or view of national responsibility for the "right" regulation of industry that had existed until then. Instead of helping the work people to get better conditions the Government went to the other extreme and attempted to prevent combinations of work people. By 1800 the work people were deprived of protection from Government, and at the same time they were refused the right of the alternative to that protection — Trade Union organisation. In effect the Government said: "If wages and conditions of employment are to be regulated in this country they will not be regulated by us." That attitude determined the first principle of Trade Union organisation in this country for all time. Work people had to come together in spite of the law and not because of it ; therefore the movement was bound to be an extremely voluntary one. In those days no authority would force you to come together, indeed it was more likely to punish you for coming together. Trade Unionism was recognised in this country in 1825, but it had actually begun much earlier in some industries. The fact that Trade Unions were illegal did not always deter work people from forming them. An employer might know that he could appeal to the law to smash the Trade Union but ultimately he began to realise that there was not much use in invoking the law if he was still to meet with the same opposition. For the sake of peace he realised that he must come to some sort of agreement with his work people ; so that even though the law was against Trade Unionism they still, in many cases, fulfilled their normal functions of regulating wages and conditions. By 1850, some Unions at any rate, had realised that there was much to be gained from industry, even as it was then organised, if only work people were properly organised in permanent Unions with substantial funds. This view was based upon the recognition that, as Trade Unions, they had a special function which was not to be confused with other aspirations or more general application. The strength of the British Trade Union movement as compared with the Trade Union movement of some other countries, is that our Trade Unions have never been hampered either in their industrial or political activities by confusion between proper instruments for one and the other. The mass of general labour was not catered for by industrial or craft Unions. Until 1894 the mass of "unskilled" labour in this country was completely unorganised, working under extremely bad conditions and witli very low wages. In 1894 an entirely different conception of Trade Unionism was introduced. The people were being paid low wages and the best thing they could do was to depend in their Trade Unionism rather upon allegiance to one another, than upon substantial funds and cash benefit. Their purpose was to get into the minds of the work peonle for whom they catered some idea of working class solidarity. In 1900, the Labour Party was formed as a definite Trade Union Party. You could only be a member of the Labour Party through an organisation such as the Trade Union organisation, the I.L.P., or the Fabian Society, etc. It resulted in the return of about 26 Labour members of Parliament in 1906. It had an effect upon the Trade Union legislation of 1906 and 1913. After the War there was a good deal of talk of political action. But there has been something of a change since then. The Trade Union movement generally has become increasingly aware, since the War, of its power and its responsibility — its responsibility towards its own membership as well as the working class as a whole and society generally. We try to get work people to pursue lines that we think are desirable and encourage them to do so, but is it wise to make irresponsible demands that we dare not sustain or that we cannot support by every ounce of strength we possess? Since the War, Trade Unions have extended the scope of their activities very considerably. They have (Continued on page 189)