TGWU Centenary

Transport and General Workers' Union Centenary, 1922-2022

To mark the Centenary of the founding of the Transport and General Workers' Union (now amalgamated into Unite the Union), Spokesman Books presents the following list of related books. In addition, we make available some portions of these books in PDF format.

<span style='font-size: 14px;'>The Making of the Labour Movement</span>

The Making of the Labour Movement
The Formation of the Transport and General Workers' Union 1870-1922
by Ken Coates and Topham

This authoritative and comprehensive history does more than tell a story. It shows how trade unions created permanent organisation, based on "recognition" as a key concept. Those who had formerly been locked out from society now recognised their own strength in association, and saw that strength reflected in the eyes of their bosses.

Contents

Foreword to Paperback Edition by Professor David Howell
Foreword by Ron Todd, General Secretary of the TGWU PDF
Introduction PDF

Part I 1870-1911: From Forerunners to Federation
1. The Earliest Forerunners PDF
2. The New Socialists, and the Way to a New Unionism
3. The Great London Dock Strike
4. The New Unionism Arrives
5. Defeat: Defence and Defiance
6. Hanging On
7. Independent Labour Politics
8. In Transition: 1900-1910
9. The Political Challenge: From Above, or From Below?
10. 1911: Big Bang

Part II 1912-1922: From Federation to Amalgamation
11. The 1912 London Transport Strike and the Federation
12. 1912: Registration
13. James Larkin: Dublin Erupts
14. The Politics of Revolt
15. The Debates on Amalgamation and Alliance: 1913-1914
16. War
17. Change: Power Without Glory
18. 1919
19. 1920: The Shaw Inquiry
20. Amalgamation: 1920-1922
21. A New Movement Comes of Age? A New Union Is Born!

Price: £15.00

909 pages

Indexed

ISBN: 978 0 85124 5652

Paperback

Quantity:

<span style='font-size: 14px;'>Up and Down Stream</span>

Up and Down Stream
by Harry Gosling

Harry Gosling was born in 1861. He left school at thirteen and was soon apprenticed as a lighterman on the River Thames. The great dock strike of 1889 engendered a rash of new unionism, and much activity within the old unions. By 1893, Gosling had been elected General Secretary of his Union, a full-time post. He was also extremely active in local government, becoming a member of the London County Council in 1904.

It was in July 1910 that Ben Tillett, the leader of the Dockers' Union, convened a meeting of waterside unions to discuss the formation of the National Transport Workers' Federation. Harry Gosling was elected President. Ernest Bevin was soon elected to the Executive, after which he and Gosling worked very closely together. Eventually, the Transport and General Workers' Union was formed out of the multiplicity of unions constituting the Federation, and Gosling was its founding President.

After several attempts to win election to Parliament, Gosling was finally victorious in a by-election in 1923, at Whitechapel. The following year the first Labour Government was formed and MacDonald appointed Gosling as Minister of Transport. He died while still a Member of Parliament, in 1930. All these adventures and insights, recounted in his own words in his autobiography, which has long been out of print, will resonate with new generations.

Price: £19.95

292 pages

ISBN: 978 0 85124 7786

Quantity:

<span style='font-size: 14px;'>The Awkward Warrior</span>

The Awkward Warrior
Frank Cousins: His Life and Times
by Geoffrey Goodman

Frank Cousins was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1956 to 1969. During those years he helped change the Labour Party and the TUC, and in so doing influenced an entire generation.

"... a good book on a great theme ..."
Michael Foot, Guardian

"I know of no better account of the events in
the TUC and Labour Party during Cousins' years
from 1956 to 1969."
George Aitken, AUEW Journal

"... a vital text for anyone who wants to understand the underlying truth of the Labour Movement."
Richard Clements, Tribune

"Geoffrey Goodman has done every bit as good a job as Bullock did in his study of Bevin."
Peter Paterson, Spectator

Price: £17.99

616 pages | Indexed

ISBN: 978 0 85124 4174

Paperback

Quantity:

Spokesman Books | TGWU Centenary