The same conflict between centralisation of finance and the surviving local autonomy of the branches may be traced in the rules of most of the unions in the building trade.' Here the tradition has »been to require the assent of the whole society, or of the central executive as its representa- tive, before any branch may strike, or even negotiate, for an increase of wages or new trade privileges. But it has been no less firmly rooted in the practice of the building trades, for any branch, or even any individual workman, instantly to cease work, without consulting the central executive, whenever an employer makes an encroachment on the existing Working Rules of thjat town. In such cases, by the rules of most of 'the national unions in these trades, strike pay is granted by the branch as a matter of course,
1 Rules of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (London, 1896), p. 54. VOL. I
98 Trade Union Structure
A branch is accordingly expressly authorised to involve the whole society in war, whenever its own interpretation of existing customs is challenged by an employer, even in the minutest particular. We may easily imagine how greatly international hostilities would be increased,, if the governor of every colony or out-lying dependency were authorised instantly to declare war, in the name and on the resources of the whole empire, whenever, in his own private judg- ment, any infringement of national rights had taken place. And although, in the Trade Unioii instance, each particular branch dispute is usually neither momentous nor prolonged, the result is a captious and spasmodic trade policy, some- times even ridiculous in its inconsistency, which the cefltral executive has no effective power to check. The Friendly Society of Operative Stonemasons and the Operative BrickV layers' Society have, until recent years, specially suffered froc a constant succession of petty quarrels with particular em-| ployers, most of which would have been avoided if the pointi at issue had been made the subject of quiet negotiation by an ofificer acting on behalf of the whole society.^ ThisJias been dimly perceived by the leaders of the building^teades. Among the Bricklayers and Stonemasons, the traditiotiak right of the branch to strike against encroachments, without authorisation from the central executive, has hitherto been too firmly held to be abolished ; but the newer editions of the rules expressly limit this right to certain kin3s" of encroachment, and require the branch to obtain the
• Sometimes the interpretation placed by two branches on the Working Rules of one or both of them may seriously differ. The Kendal branch of the Friendly Society of* Operative Stonemasons had, in 1873, in its Working Rules, a provision requiring employers to provide dinner for men sent to work beyond a certain distance from their homes in the town. A Kendal employer sent members of the Kendal branch to a. place twenty miles away which was within the district of another branch having no such rule. The Kendal masons insisted on their employer complying with the Kendal rules, whereupon he replaced them by men belonging to the local branch, who contended that the Kendal rules did not apply to work done in the J district. This fine point in interpretation led to endless recrimination between the two branches, and much local friction. Finally the issue was referred to a vote of the whole society, which went against the Kendal branch. — Fortnightly Return, October i87,'{.
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authority of the whole society before resisting any other kind pf attack. The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners has advanced a step further in centralisation of policy. For the last twenty years its rules have expressly forbidden any branch to strike " without first obtaining the sanction of the executive council , . . whether it be for a new privilege or against an encroachment on existing ones." ' It is no mere coincidence that the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, though younger than many other societies in the building trades, is now the largest and most wealthy of them all.
The difficulties that beset the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and the Operative Bricklayers' Society have been overcome by the United Society of Boilermakers, a union which has found a way to combine efficient administration of friendly benefits with a strong and uniform trade policy. Here the problem has been solved by an absolute separa- tion, both in name and in application, between the trade and friendly benefits. The "donation benefit" for the support of the unemployed is restricted to "a man thrown out of employment through depression of trade or other causes," testified by • " a note signed by the foreman or by three full members that are working in the shop or yard he has left," and proved to the satisfaction of the officers of the branch. This benefit cannot be given to a man leaving his employment on a dispute of any kind whatsoever. Strike ^ pay is an entirely separate benefit, awarded, even in the case of a single workman, only by the central executive, and payable only upon its express and particular direction.^ It follows that, although the branches administer the friendly benefits, they are not allowed to deal in any way with trade matters. If any dispute arises betweenj an employer and his workmen, or even between him and one of his workmen, the case is at once taken up by the district, delegate, an officer appointed by and acting for the whole
1 Rule 28, sec. lO of edition of 1893, p. 66. ' Rules of the United Society of Boilermahrs (^t^casWs, 1895).
loo Trade Union Structure
society, in constant communication witli the general secretary at headquarters. No workman may drop his tools, or even give notice to his employer, over any question of trade privileges, except with the prior authorisation of the district delegate ; and to make doubly sure that this law shall be implicitly obeyed, not a penny of beneifit may be paid 1^ the branch in any such case, except on the express direction of the central executive.
Nevertheless, the Trade Union branch, even in the most centralised society, continues to fulfil an indispensable function in Trade Union administration, As an association for mutual insurance, for the provision of sick pay, funeral expenses, and superannuation allowance, the Trade Union, like the friendly society, governs its action by definite rules and fixed scales of benefit, which are nowadays settled as an act of legisla- tion by the society as a whole. Even the Out of Work benefit—the " Donation " or " Idle Money," which none but trade societies have found it possible to undertake, is dealt with in the same manner. The printed constitution of the typical modern union prescribes in minute detail what sums are to be paid for sickness or out of work benefit, and attemptis to provide by elaborate rules for ^very possible contingency. The central executive rigidly insists on the^ rules being obeyed to the letter, and it might at first seem as if nothing had been left for the branch to do. This is very far from being the case. To protect the fun^ from imposition, local and even personal knowledge is indispensable. Is a man sick or malingering? Has an unemployed member lost his situation through slackness of his employer's business or slackness of his own energy? These are questions that can best be answered by men who have worked with him in the factory, know the foreman who has dismissed him, and the employer who has refused to take him on, and are acquainted ■with the whole circumstances of his life. Here we find the practical utility whicn has kept the Trade Union branch alive as a vital part of Trade Union organisation
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It serves as a jury for determining, not questions of policy, but issues of fact.^
And if for a moment we leave the question of local self- government, and consider all the functions of the branch, we shall recognise the practical convenience of this institution' even in the most highly centralised society.,__]jLis_ao small! gain in ar-de mocratic organisation ^r} h?^^" incnrfri tVio. regular meetincT tofrpfher rtf tVip p; reat bulk of the membe rs, under conditi ons whic h lead direc Uy to the discussion of th eir comm