Labour history news

A ‘vicious class antagonism’ at the heart of the Titanic disaster: the dockers’ union’s response

The sinking of the RMS Titanic in the early hours of 15 April 1912 was a shocking and traumatic event, felt particularly deeply in Belfast where the ship had been built and in Southampton which had been the home port for many of its crew. As news emerged that at least 1,500 people had died, there was a sense of anger throughout the country at … Continue reading A ‘vicious class antagonism’ at the heart of the Titanic disaster: the dockers’ union’s response

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Documents & objects, Labour history news

Steam power: boilermakers mark 100 years of trade unionism, 1834-1934

A small green booklet published as a souvenir of the United Society of Boilermakers’ centenary celebrations shows members’ pride in their union’s achievements By 1934, the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders was able to trace its history back a full hundred years, to the birth at a meeting in Manchester of the Friendly Society of Boilermakers. Although the new organisation had … Continue reading Steam power: boilermakers mark 100 years of trade unionism, 1834-1934

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Labour history news

A fresh look for Irish labour history

Dr Mike Mecham introduces the new-look website of the Irish Labour History Society The Irish Labour History Society has rebuilt and relaunched its website, offering free access to biographies and articles on labour history, information on labour history resources, and a collection of book reviews published by the society’s journal Saothar in 2021. The website consists of seven categories: Society: information about the society, membership, … Continue reading A fresh look for Irish labour history

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Documents & objects

On the buses: how the National Union of Railwaymen organised bus workers

This rather beautiful badge is a reminder that the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) was not just about trains. From the 1920s onwards, the union actively recruited and organised bus workers, and by 1950 had nearly 14,500 ‘busmen’, as they were styled, in membership – a small but significant group among the NUR’s total membership of more than 400,000 transport workers. The badge itself is … Continue reading On the buses: how the National Union of Railwaymen organised bus workers

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Dominic Barron-Carter (Manchester Metropolitan) on the local impact of the Orbiston Owenite Colony

My research uses the geohistorical concepts of space and place to contextualise and interpret the activity and importance of four neglected sites of radical democratic protest activity during the nineteenth century. Thanks to the generous bursary program offered by the SSLH, I was able to undertake a six-day research trip to the North Lanarkshire Archive (NLA) in Motherwell, Scotland. The NLA is a key archive … Continue reading Dominic Barron-Carter (Manchester Metropolitan) on the local impact of the Orbiston Owenite Colony

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Labour History Review

Labour History Review Volume 86 (2021), Issue 3

Labour History Review Volume 86 (2021), Issue 3 has now been published. This special themed issue of Labour History Review on ‘Challenges to State Socialism in Central and Eastern Europe: Activists, Movements and Alliances in the 1970s and 1980s’ is edited by Daniel Laqua and Charlotte Alston. In this issue: Daniel Laqua and Charlotte Alston on Activism and Dissent under State Socialism: Coalitions and Campaigns in the 1970s … Continue reading Labour History Review Volume 86 (2021), Issue 3

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Labour History Review

Activism and Dissent under State Socialism: Coalitions and Campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s

Authors: Daniel Laqua and Charlotte AlstonThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2021), 86, (3), 295-311. Find out more. This article introduces a special Labour History Review issue on the subject of Challenges to State Socialism in Central and Eastern Europe: Activists, Movements and Alliances in the 1970s and 1980s. Our piece highlights different stimuli for dissent and opposition in the Eastern bloc, drawing … Continue reading Activism and Dissent under State Socialism: Coalitions and Campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s

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Labour History Review

‘Gamekeeper Turned Poacher’: Frank Chapple, Anti-Communism and Soviet Human Rights Violations

Author: Mark HurstThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2021), 86, (3), 313-337. Find out more. The inclusion of the British trade union leader Frank Chapple on the panel of the 1985 Sakharov hearings, an event designed to hold the Soviet authorities to account for their violation of human rights, raises questions about the workings of the broader network of activists … Continue reading ‘Gamekeeper Turned Poacher’: Frank Chapple, Anti-Communism and Soviet Human Rights Violations

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Labour History Review

Solidarity in Search of Human Agency: ‘Détente from Below’ and Independent Peace Activists in the Soviet Union

Author: Irina GordeevaThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2021), 86, (3), 339-368. Find out more. While the histories of Western grassroots movements and the officially sanctioned, communist-sponsored peace movement are well known, the independent peace activists of the Soviet bloc have remained footnotes in the history of social movements. The Group for the Establishment of Trust between East and West … Continue reading Solidarity in Search of Human Agency: ‘Détente from Below’ and Independent Peace Activists in the Soviet Union

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