|
The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. It was originally called the ''Labour Withholding Committee''.〔(Clydeside resistance to dilution ) accessed 17 June 2012 〕 The leader of the CWC was Willie Gallacher, who was jailed under the Defense of the Realm Act together with John Muir for an article in the CWC journal ''The Worker'' criticising World War I. ==Formation== The committee originated in a strike in February 1915 at G. & J. Weir. Due to labour shortages during the war, the company had employed some workers from America, but were paying them more than the Scottish staff. The shop stewards at the factory organised a walk-out in support of equal pay, and more factories joined the dispute over the next few weeks, until workers at 25 different factories were on strike.〔Ralph Darlington, ''The Political Trajectory of J.T. Murphy'', pp.14-15〕 Most of the workers were members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE), but the union leadership, both locally and nationally, opposed the strike. In order to defend the strike, about two hundred shop stewards and supporters formed the informal Central (or Clyde) Labour Withholding Committee, which was constituted as the Clyde Workers' Committee in October 1915.〔〔Walter Kolvenbach, ''Employee Councils in European Companies'', p.288〕 The committee met weekly, and included numerous people who later became prominent socialists and communists. These included Gallacher, Tom Bell, David Kirkwood, John Maclean, Arthur MacManus, Harry McShane and Jimmy Maxton.〔〔Maggie Craig, ''When the Clyde Ran Red''〕〔Martin Crick, ''The History of the Social-Democratic Federation'', p.275〕 Many of the leading figures were members of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), but others were involved with the British Socialist Party, the Independent Labour Party, or had no previous political involvement, the general approach being broadly .〔Martin Crick, ''The History of the Social-Democratic Federation'', p.275〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clyde Workers' Committee」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|