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The Emergence of the Labour Party
Owen's Grand National Consolidated Trade Union, begun in 1834, had been the culmination of his attempts to organize labor by providing a peaceable outlet for the aspirations of the workers. It became a major influence on the future development of the trade unions in both Britain (and its empire) and the United States. The same edition of The Cambrian reported a debate in the House of Lords, where the Bishop of Essex had warned the country against the dangers of Socialism.
In the 1870's there were new attempts to revive the trade union movement. The Amalgamated Association of Miners, begun in Lancashire in 1869 was the first union to achieve any success in the fight for better working conditions and a decent wage. Fierce resistance from the coal owners to a strike in 1875, however, soon bankrupted the union and caused its dissolution.
Despite their success, however, the new spirit of resistance had frightened the coal owners. Two years later, the coal owners formed the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association in which eighty-five companies owning over 200 mines formed a united front against the unions. Their efforts led to the setting up of the system of payment known as the "sliding scale," whereby wage levels were tied to the selling price of coal. The system meant that there was no chance of collective bargaining over wages.
Attempts to form unions persisted, and in the Rhondda Valley the Cambrian Miners Association in 1877 began its efforts under the inspired leadership of Mabon (William Abraham). He was the first of the new breed of Welshmen who would become dominant in the coalfields and who, according to Professor Davies, would "symbolize the values of Welsh industrial society."
Mabon had vigorously supported the adoption of the sliding scale as a way to avoid conflict and retain jobs for the miners. With his belief that "half a loaf is better than no loaf," he was able to keep the peace between owners and colliers for twenty years. Through his untiring efforts, he was able to achieve some concessions for his workers, including modifications to the sliding scale and a holiday on the first Monday of each month (known as "Mabon's Monday").
As representative of the miners, Mabon was elected Lib-Lab M.P. for Rhondda in 1885. Mabon firmly believed that the interests of capital and labor were identical: he was aided by the fact that the price of coal and the price of commodities did not vary too much at the time.
In England, as a response to poor working conditions, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) was formed in 1893. At first it had little impact on Wales, where the Liberal Party continued to dominate. But the continuing immigration into the Welsh coalfields of workers from England and especially Ireland created a new generation of miners suspicious of Mabon's faith in the partnership between labor and capital.
The year 1889 saw the founding of the Miner's Federation of Great Britain at Newport, in Monmouthshire. Although many still supported Mabon and the sliding scale, the federation grew in strength; it argued for the creation of a Board of Arbitration to replace the sliding scale and the restriction of the workday to eight hours.
Chapter 20 Continued
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