But the “Old Gang”, who correctly saw it as a threat to their authority, refused to give up without a fight. On every occasion they denounced New Unionism. George Shipton, secretary of the London Trades Council and member of the “Junta”, wrote extensively about this struggle in the June 1890 edition of Murray’s Magazine. In the most hysterical terms, Shipton attacked the attempts by the new unions to organise the closed shop, their refusal to work with non-unionists, their fomenting of strikes, their demands for increased pay for less hours, and lastly, the fact that they were being run by “outsiders”! Shipton displayed contempt for the docks’ strike, and in utter desperation denounced the new unions as “mushroom growths”, doomed to an early end! As for unskilled general workers, he considered them beyond the pale and incapable of unionisation. But, as events were to demonstrate, it was the “Junta” that was doomed.
In a bitter exchange, both Ben Tillett and Tom Mann struck out at Shipton’s petty-bourgeois life-style:
East End labourers are not in George Shipton’s line. Picnics to the Channel Tunnel, Sandringham, and deputations in connection with various semi-politic and patriotic and demi-semi-trade unionist and pseudo-philanthropic movements… are much more agreeable.
The 1890 TUC Congress became a battleground between the forces of the old and the new. Feeling cornered, the “Old Gang” attempted to defend themselves by shouting down opposition delegates. Yet the resolution from Burns and Mann for the eight-hour day was passed 193 votes to 155, which prompted Broadhurst’s resignation as TUC secretary. The old timers attempted to cling on, but their grip was eventually broken. The following two TUC Congresses confirmed once and for all the socialists’ victory and the defeat of the old regime.
As was to be expected, the employers were not simply going to sit back and accept this new militancy. The birth of New Unionism was soon tested by a series of counter blows. But it was in the militant coalfields that it was put to the greatest test as troops were sent against two big miners’ strikes in the Federated area and in South Wales. The 1893 miners’ lockout lasted five months but the 25 per cent wage-cut demanded by the owners was successfully resisted. It was regarded as one of the most bitter struggles in the history of the miners’ union. As a result, the miners’ victory was greeted with jubilation everywhere. In Lancashire, “men, women and children of the working classes in the districts affected”, wrote the secretary of the Lancashire Miners’ Federation, “joined the miners in their rejoicing, with singing, dancing, shouting, laughing and crying for joy, and in several districts the church bells were set ringing to celebrate the event.” The 1898 strike stirred up feelings of class solidarity across the coalfields and resulted in a historic break-through in the South Wales with the formation of the South Wales Miners’ Federation.
The working class had awoken from its long “winter slumber” and once again flexed its muscles. Not only were new unions of the unskilled created, but also many of the craft unions became infected with the new mood. This served to break down the old prejudices and opened up their ranks, including those of the old ASE, to the mass of unorganised workers. In fact, not only was the ASE transformed out of all recognition, but it even went to the length of electing Tom Mann as its general secretary. This demonstrated once again that the traditional organisations of the class, even when they are firmly in the grip of the right wing, as events unfold, could be transformed and retransformed into organisations of struggle.
The end of the century had witnessed the triumph and the consolidation of New Unionism. Nevertheless, the process was not complete. New Unionism now opened up new possibilities on the political front. New defeats and new problems served to propel the trade union movement into a political direction. Great events, as always, arose to force the issue to the foreground. This was eventually to lay the basis for the next giant leap forward and the formation of the Labour Representation Committee at the turn of the century. The working class was coming of age.