Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889, that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in founding the Dockers Union, and played a prominent role as a strike leader in dock strikes in 1911 and 1912. He enthusiastically supported the war effort in the First World War. He was pushed aside byErnest Bevin during the consolidation that created theTransport and General Workers' Union in 1922, who gave Tillett a subordinate position. Scholars stress his evangelical dedication to the labour cause, while noting his administrative weaknesses. Clegg Fox and Thompson described him as ademagogue and agitator grasping for fleeting popularity.[1]
Tillett was born inBristol. He started work in abrickyard at eight years of age and was a"Risley" boy for two years. At 12 years of age, he served for six months on afishing smack, was afterwards apprenticed to abootmaker, and then joined theRoyal Navy. He was invalided out of the navy and made several voyages in merchant ships. Tillett then settled at theLondon Docks, and took up work as a docker.[2]
He began his career as a trade union organiser in 1887 by forming theTea Operatives and General Labourers Union atTilbury docks. Tillett and his union, renamed theDock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union, rose to prominence during theLondon dock strike of 1889, although the strike itself began without union involvement. Tillett also played a prominent role as a strike leader in dock strikes in 1911 and 1912. He was instrumental in forming theNational Transport Workers' Federation in 1910, along withHavelock Wilson of theSeamen's Union.
Tillett's union was the largest of the unions which came together in 1922 to form theTransport and General Workers' Union, however, it was Tillett's deputy,Ernest Bevin, rather than Tillett himself, who took the major role in bringing about the amalgamation. Bevin became the General Secretary of the new union, but Tillett held the post of International and Political Secretary until 1931 and retained his seat on the General Council of theTrades Union Congress until 1932.[3]
By the turn of the 20th Century a blind workforce was now established in the labour market.
They were prominently employed in craft trades such as weaving, basket making and piano tuning. In an era dominated by unionisation the National League of the Blind (NLB) was registered in 1899 and was soon affiliated with both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Labour Party. By 1912 they had called their first strike in Bristol over non-existent pension schemes for their members a majority of whom were living in poverty.
One of the many horrors of World War One was the number of soldiers who returned home after being blinded in conflict.
Persistent lobbying by the NLB forced the Government to set up an Advisory Committee for the Welfare of the Blind. It was chaired by Tillett. His 1920 Private Members Bill titled Blind (Education, Employment and Maintenance) began the dialogue towards a new way of thinking. He set the tone when telling the chamber, 'I do not want a period of war to be the only period when we sit up and take notice. Physical deterioration should be a thing of grave concern to all of us at any period'.[4]His 1920 Private Members Bill titled Blind (Education, Employment and Maintenance) began the dialogue towards a new way of thinking. He set the tone when telling the chamber, 'I do not want a period of war to be the only period when we sit up and take notice. Physical deterioration should be a thing of grave concern to all of us at any period'.
Tillett was a member of theFabian Society and a founding member of theIndependent Labour Party, but subsequently joined theSocial Democratic Federation instead. He also joined theBristol Socialist Society in the 1880s, when he often travelled to that city. At the1892 United Kingdom general election, he was sponsored by theBradford Labour Union andBradford Trades Council to stand inBradford West. He won 30.2% of the vote, but took third place and was not elected.[5]
Tillett began a political career as an alderman on theLondon County Council from 1892 to 1898 and was aLabour Party Member of Parliament (MP) forSalford North from 1917 to 1924 and again from 1929 to 1931. Before his victory at theSalford North by-election in 1917 as an independent candidate, he had stood unsuccessfully for Parliament at four general elections:Bradford West in1892 and1895; atEccles in1906; and atSwansea inJanuary 1910.[6] He often disagreed with the liberal tendencies of the Labour Party, claiming in 1918 that 'If the Labour Party could select a King, he would be a feminist, a Temperance crank, a Nonconformist charlatan...an anti-sport, anti-jollity advocate, a teetotaller, as well as a general wet blanket.'[7]
Tillett courted controversy with some of his supporters in the labour movement through his outspoken support of Britain's involvement in theFirst World War, an issue which split the Labour Party. In article in the 3 July 1915 issue ofThe Illustrated London News, the pro-war writerG. K. Chesterton offered his explanation:
Before the First World War, Tillett had defended the idea of an international general strike in case of war, but like most trade union leaders, Tillett decided in 1914 to support the British war aims, writing a pamphlet published in 1917, "Who was Responsible for the war and why ?" in which he declared "Despite our former pacifist attitude, the forces of Labour in England have supported the government throughout the war. We realised that this is a fight for world freedom against a carefully engineered plan to establish a world autocracy".
In contrast to his support for friendly relations between English and Irish Catholic dockworkers in the East End of London Tillett was strongly opposed to Jewish immigration.[8] Tillett associated Jewish arrivals with creating undesirable working conditions and poor housing: "the influx of continental pauperism aggravates and multiplies the number of ills which press so heavily on us...foreigners come to London in large numbers, herd together in habitations unfit for beasts, the sweating system allowing the more grasping and shrewd a life of comparative ease in superintending their work".[8]
In 1891, Tillett formulated what the historian Satnam Virdee has described as a "proto-fascist discourse" in a series of letters to theLondon Evening News.[9] Tillett argued that Jewish workers should be removed from Britain and that British politicians were in thrall to Jewish financial power: 'Our leading statesmen do not care to offend the great banking houses or money kings.... For heavens' sake, give us back our own countrymen and take from us your motley multitude.'[10]
Tillett died on 27 January 1943, aged 82
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Tillett, Benjamin".Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
| Trade union offices | ||
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| Preceded by New position | General Secretary of theInternational Transport Workers' Federation 1896 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Trades Union Congress representative to theAmerican Federation of Labor 1901 With:Francis Chandler | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President and General Secretary of theInternational Transport Workers' Federation 1904 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Trades Union Congress 1929 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSalford North 1917–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSalford North 1929–1931 | Succeeded by |
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