Labourism

LABOURISM. — The latter can be considered as the beginning and subsequent development of that phase of the English workers' movement which corresponds to the entry of workers into political life. It presents itself as a characteristic form of democratic and reformist socialism based on the guarantee of popular liberties and on respect for every religious faith, and therefore not strictly bound to the ideological schemes of Marxist materialism and opposed to every form of dictatorship, including that of the proletariat. Hence the adherence to Labourism on the part of Catholic forces.

Between 1840 and 1876 the English trade union organizations — Trade Unions — had achieved their most important aspirations, among them legal recognition and the possibility of organizing strikes (the latter concession, however, limited by the "Criminal Law Amendment Act" of 1871, which prohibited picketing, that is, the action carried out by striking workers to induce their comrades to abstain from work). All this had been obtained by English workers on a strictly trade-union level, inasmuch as, after the failed experience of the Chartist movement, it had proved to be the most profitable. But especially in the last two decades of the century various events arose to advise the Trade Unions to consider with a certain interest the opportunity of engaging actively in politics. In the first place there arose the multiplication of organizations of unskilled workers, organizations with a clear socialist tendency. It must in fact be recalled how the protection and organization of the working classes, undertaken by the Trade Unions, did not extend to all categories of workers, but only to skilled workers (skilled workers). Unskilled workers (unskilled workers), those who, even from the economic point of view, found themselves in the worst conditions, were prevented from organizing by the Trade Unions themselves, which regarded their own position as a right and a privilege.

Now, precisely in these circles of the dispossessed, socialism — which until that moment had not succeeded in penetrating deeply into the English working class, so much so that it had given scant support to the Marxist "International" itself — found easy hold. In 1881 the "Democratic Federation" was founded, which shortly afterwards transformed itself into the "Social-Democratic Federation" with a program inspired by that of "German Social Democracy." The work of the new body — which was political in nature — and the very situation of unskilled workers convinced ever broader strata of public opinion of the advisability of extending the organization of workers to all categories, and not only that, but also of coordinating all the trade-union forces of the nation — facts which shortly afterwards became reality.

At the same time, even among the classes that had traditionally been opposed to the participation of workers in the direction of public affairs, there was a change of attitudes. Many prejudices had fallen, and a greater sense of tolerance penetrated the aristocracy. The work of the "Fabian Society" also contributed to creating this new climate; proposing to spread socialist ideas without revolutions, it carried on an intense activity of disseminating the principles of social justice. On the other hand, following the electoral reform of 1867, already in 1874 two workers had entered the House of Commons, and ten years later the workers' representation within that same House rose to 12 members.

With all this, in the absence of a true workers' party, the working class had to rely either on the Conservatives or on the Liberals, thus suffering a dispersal of votes and above all remaining, at least in part, tied to those parties. Beginning in 1887 a Scottish miner, one Keir Hardie, initiated a movement aimed at demonstrating the incongruity in which the working class found itself and the necessity, on the part of the proletariat, of achieving that full independence — which it had already conquered in the economic-social field — also in politics, participating in it with the force of numbers and of its own abilities. In 1893 Hardie founded in Bradford the "Independent Labour Party," which, however, at the outset was not regarded with much sympathy either by the leaders of English trade unionism or by the workers themselves.

However, the economic reality — constituted by various setbacks suffered on the trade-union level and especially by the judgment pronounced by the House of Lords sitting as a High Court of Justice against the "Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants," as a result of which this trade-union organization was condemned to pay compensation for the damages caused by the railway workers' strike — soon brought about a modification of this attitude of opposition to political action by the forces of labour.

The unfavorable judgment of the Court of Justice in fact came to restrict — almost annulling — the right to strike, thereby depriving workers of the only effective instrument of struggle capable of sustaining those demands that the action of the unions had succeeded in winning. The Trade Unions then realized the vital necessity of overcoming the position of apoliticism and of fighting, by means of a party of their own, both to guarantee the effectiveness of labour laws and to promote others, and to defend the trade-union organizations themselves. From this conviction to practical action the passage was rapid. In 1899 the congress of all trade-union forces took place, and Hardie obtained a notable success. The following year the "Labour Representation Committee" was founded, an organ of the Trade Unions, destined to coordinate the political action of the forces of labour. In the elections of 1906 already 29 deputies belonging to this committee entered the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, the work of the working class to achieve unity of action in the political field continued. Also in 1906 the "Independent Labour Party" merged with the "Labour Representation Committee" and the "Labour Party" came into being. From 1906 to the First World War the development of the new Party was notable. The only fact worth noting in this period is, however, the prohibition imposed on the Trade Unions in 1911 on spending their social funds to finance the "Labour Party", a right which until that time had been uncontested. This prohibition lasted until 1913, when a Trade Union act defined the political purposes for which the unions could spend their funds, though still only following a regular vote. In 1924 the first experiment in a Labour government became possible, but it lasted only eight months; thereafter grave events disturbed the world of English labour. The miners' strike and the consequent national strike provoked in 1927, on the part of the conservative government then in power, a new law on labour disputes and on trade unions which limited the legal field of action of the unions themselves not only in the strictly union sphere but also in their political activities, also making illegal lockouts and sympathy strikes aimed at coercing the government, whether directly or indirectly, by inflicting damage on the community. Although in 1929 the Labour Party returned to government, its majority in Parliament was not such as to exceed that of the other parties taken together, so that the law of 1927 remained in force. The government then returned entirely into the hands of the conservatives, until, in May 1940, after Chamberlain's resignation, the Labourites entered the coalition government presided over by Winston Churchill, with the Party leader, Attlee, as deputy president, while two other Labourites (Greenwood and Bevin) entered the War Cabinet. In this role of notable responsibility and of collaboration with the conservatives, English Labourism contributed to the victory of the British Empire.

With the return to normality the Labour Party resumed complete independence, which culminated in the elections of July 1945 in a complete victory, made concrete by a majority that allowed the party to assume total responsibility for power and therefore to begin the implementation of a vast social programme. This majority was confirmed, though in smaller proportions, also in the elections of 1950.

The Labour social programme is essentially centred, besides on the execution of great public works to prevent unemployment and on the solution of the housing problem or on the full application of the Beveridge plan, on the nationalization of the most important sectors of the economy. By mid-1950 the nationalizations had in fact taken place: of the Bank of England, of telegraphic and radio communications, of civil aviation, of the coal mines, of transport, of the industries producing electric power and of the steel industries.

The reduction of the gap between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, brought out by the elections of 1950, has placed Labourism before greater difficulties. It does not appear, however, that Labourism intends to halt in the elaboration and execution of its programme.

Giuseppe Mira