Spinning the Web > People > Reform

During the eighteenth century, textile workers in Lancashire began to form friendly societies and trade clubs, early pre-cursors of trades unions, to defend their rights. Many of these societies provided rudimentary "relief" for distress brought about by illness or unemployment. By the 1780s they existed in a number of towns including Manchester, Bolton and Preston. Trades unions were declared illegal under the Combination Acts of 1799 and 1800, part of a wider response by the state to fears of revolution and the political radicalism of an emerging working class. The unions, however, continued to exist in the guise of friendly societies, or went underground until the Acts were repealed in 1824. However, it was not until the passing of the Trades Union Act of 1871 that unions became fully legal and their funds protected from dishonest members - a concern that dominates many of the rules and constitutions of the early unions.

It was among the factory workers in the cotton industry that some of the most powerful and influential trade unions emerged in the nineteenth century. The unions took on some of the functions of the old friendly societies but their principal concern became negotiating the wages and working conditions of their members. They were organised around the major processes, with separate unions for spinners, weavers and cardroom workers.

By the end of the nineteenth century each of the three main sectors were organised. The Spinners' Amalgamation, established in 1870, dominated the spinning section. Although it never had a large number of members, the high dues paid by the mule spinners - the famous barefoot aristocrats of the industry - made it one of the wealthiest and most powerful unions in the country. The Weavers' Amalgamation, established 1884, organised workers in the weaving sheds, where there was a large number of women workers. The Cardroom Amalgamation, established 1886, organised workers in the preparatory stages of the industry. In addition the cotton unions came together to form the United Textile Factory Workers' Association (established 1889) which took up industry-wide issues including health and safety and factory reform.

The unions had their own weekly newspaper, the Cotton Factory Times. It was published from 1885 to 1937. Before the First World War the cotton unions were an important presence in the wider trade union movement, playing an important role in organisations such as the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which held it first annual meeting in Manchester in 1868. A number of cotton trade unionists were also elected as MPs for the Lancashire cotton constituencies.

Nigel Rudyard and Terry Wyke

View the Trade Unions collection to find out more >


Associated Images

Related Narratives	Living Conditions