A ha’penny more
Introduction
Victorian Bournemouth (241) follows the strike made by the town’s carpenters and joiners during 1897, following similar events elsewhere. The Bournemouth Guardian issued regular reports enabling its readers to learn about the event’s progression and the activities attributed to its participants. Two associations managed affairs: one for the employers, the other for the employees. This year marked the first time Bournemouth had experienced a strike.
Victorian Bournemouth (241): background
Striking context
During the 1890s, unionisation among carpenters and joiners increased its strength. Their many strikes throughout the country advertised this. Over forty strikes preceded the one that introduced such behaviour to Bournemouth in 1897. They occurred in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and throughout many industrial cities within England. London’s strike (1891), which lasted several months, won constant media coverage throughout the country. Most of the industrial action concerned wage levels. The analysis shows that wages across the country varied. Overall, however, most strikers aimed to win an extra ha’penny on the existing 7d per hour. Some strikes also aimed to reduce the hours worked. Other strikes, however, occurred because carpenters or joiners crossed the line separating the two trades. Frequent meetings held between representatives of the union and employers occurred during the strikes. Often, these brought resolution, but most strikes succeeded, while a few failed. The Bournemouth strike followed this pattern.
Numbers
Within Bournemouth, construction workers formed a large part of the town’s skilled labourers. Carpenters and joiners constituted around 40% of them. Their numbers had grown over the years as the industry expanded, attracting a stream of immigrants. By 1891, the town housed over 600 woodworkers, most living in the growing suburbs. The number of builders also increased. In 1871, around 20 men so designated operated in the town. This number had become around 120 by the 1891 census. Directories list around half that number then. Self-reporting (census) and information from third parties (directories) may account for this difference. Individuals seeking social esteem may have preferred ‘builder’ over a specific trade. During the strike (1897), the local union reported that the town had about 400 woodworkers. Press reports suggested that around fifty ‘builders’ had attended an initial meeting of employers. Later reports referred to their membership as consisting of fifteen firms.
Victorian Bournemouth (241): the strike
Timeline
The strike orchestrated by Bournemouth’s woodworkers’ union began in June 1897, lasted the summer, but then trailed off by the year’s end. Assisted by a London advisor, the local union leader, H. H. Curtis, a joiner, wrote to the employers. He asked for the extra ha’penny, setting a deadline for response. In the first of several stone-wall manoeuvres, the Master Builders and Decorators preferred a schedule of their own. The strike began. Curtis used the press to fight a battle of numbers: Union members, strikers, recipients of the new rate, employers involved, concessions or otherwise. By July, the strike followed an established pattern: receiving outside funds, London representatives attending meetings. The employers continued to prevaricate. Their association secretary went on holiday during the union’s attempts to obtain a meeting. By autumn, employers decided they had enough staff and declined to engage. The strike evaporated. The adventure had ended.
Analysis
The union chose to campaign in the press rather than on the picket line, though police had to attend one incident. Its strategy of using numbers both to legitimise their position and to pressure employers makes estimates of the relevant populations important. Even if 400 woodworkers resided in Bournemouth that summer, the union had persuaded only a minority to join. In part to obscure that weakness, the union diverted attention to the representative nature of the employers’ association. No more than a minority of ‘builders’ had joined it. The union claimed that several firms had acceded to the increase, but the enterprise run by Councillor (and future Mayor) Hoare and others forced men back without the ha’penny. Thus, it seems that the union failed in its campaign because it had little control over the qualified workers. Furthermore, some employers appear to engage their workers without reference to the union, reducing its relevance.
Victorian Bournemouth (241): people
Union
Most of the strike committee had emerged from labouring backgrounds. After the strike, they continued to reside in Bournemouth, winning woodworking jobs without apparent difficulty. Two differed, however. Frederick Meyers, also a member of the Amalgamated Trades Council, participated in its meetings. Furthermore, he attended a meeting of the Bournemouth East Conservative Club. The other, Robert Cooper, perhaps had a different origin and later trajectory. On a wedding certificate, he appeared as a gentleman’s son. Elsewhere, however, he worked as a shoemaker. As a teenager, Cooper had worked as a pupil teacher. After the strike, he became involved with the East Bournemouth School of Art, both as an instructor and a pupil. In 1899, he won first-class honours, City and Guilds, for carpentry and joinery. An architect for a while, he later returned to woodwork instruction. Perhaps Cooper’s training enabled him to play a significant role in managing the strike.
Employers
During its coverage of the strike, the press referred to about fifty contractors comprising an informal Master Builders and Decorators association. Local directors listed only half of these, but this may indicate the number of more established firms. To help their businesses over the years, Bournemouth’s builders may have created an informal fraternity. Many builders belonged to the masons, for example. Kinship linked others. Two men from the employers’ organisation sat on the Council. Another had had long civic service. One of these, William Hoare, belonged to a family which appeared to encompass multiple building concerns. Employees of Hoare’s firm returned to work at the old wage. Soon, Hoare would become mayor. Thus, the employers perhaps formed a loose, but established network affording them power and authority across the community. The union, a recent and underfunded foundation, may never have had much chance of success in its strike.
Takeaway
Victorian Bournemouth (241) has examined aspects of the strike undertaken in 1897 by local carpenters and joiners. Between the lines of the press reports lies the possibility that the union had too few members to create a strike strong enough to bring down the establishment. In January 1898, a reporter called at the union’s clubroom, only to find that the leader had also returned to work. Thus, the first strike at Bournemouth vaporised, unable to contest a wealthy and powerful network of employers.
References
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