British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron and Tinplate and Kindred Trades Association
Founding member ISTC
Originally known as the British Steel Smelters’ Association formed in 1886 in Motherwell under the leadership of John Hodge, who would hold the office of General Secretary until the founding of the ISTC where he would serve as president until 1931.
The head office movedto Manchester in 1892. The members rejected a proposal to amalgamate with the Scottish Millmens’ Society. There was also industrial unrest at the Pontymister Steel and Tinplate works that saw union men gaoled for the capture of strike breakers around Christmas 1893. A 14 month strike was successful despite the importation of 365 ‘blackleg’ strike breakers to the Pontymister works.
In 1901 membership was close to 10,500 and the union was financially stable. The union had adopted the name ‘The British Steel Smelters’, Mill, Iron and Tinplate Workers Association’ in 1902.
In 1906 two officials won seats as Labour candidates, John Hodge contested the Gorton division of Lancashire and John T. Macpherson contested Preston.
The union established offices in Great Ormond st before moving to Swinton House in 1914, where the ISTC and Community would be located until 2009.
The Hawarden Bridge Dispute
The inefficiencies produced by having multiple craft unions operating within the iron and Steel trades was brought to a head by the Hawarden Bridge dispute. These stresses had been evident as early as 1889, when a proposed amalgamation with the Scottish Millmen’s Society came to nothing when appropriate membership rates could not be agreed upon. The wage disparity between Wales, Scotland and England as well as that between the different Iron and Steel specialists and day labourers had never been succesfully addressed by union mebmbership fees and structures. The Hawarden Bridge dispute was caused by the expansion of the John Summers & Sons works. The new works incorporated new ‘Welsh’ mills (with BSSMITKTA members) with ‘Staffordshire’ mills (Associated Iron and Steel Workers of Great Britain members). The disparity in wages was then greatly felt by the ‘day wage’ men who had no effect representaion by either union, the unions fearing that an influx of ‘day wage’ men would dilute the value of the union for the ‘tonnage’ men.
The Steel Smelters Union finally accepted the ‘day wage’ men and renegotiated contracts to improve their position. However this drew criticism and a formal complaint from the Ironworkers Union. The resulting inquiry, which requested that the Steel Smelters eject the day wage men, created much bad blood between the two unions and was used to justify membership poaching by both sides for several years following. It also saw the Steel Smelters disaffiliate from the TUC for a number of years.
In 1912, at the urging of the Steel Smelters Union a conference of all Iron and Steel unions and the Dockers union was held to discuss amalgamation. However the Steel Smelters were the only unions in favour of amalgamation, the other unions favouring federation, which saw the creation of the ISTF. The Steel Smelters abstained from the federation.
1912 also saw the Steel Smelters Union amalgamate with the National Amalgamated Society of Enginemen, Cranemen, Boilermen, Firemen and Electrical Workers to form the British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron and Tinplate and Kindred Trades Association. The Amalgamated Society of Steel and Iron Workers was also approached, but faile to get the requisite super majority on a subsequent ballot.
The National Amalgamated Society of Enginemen, Cranemen, Boilermen, Firemen and Electrical Workers appear on the stage in 1898, though may have been formed in 1896. It appears to have been organised in response to the dissolution of a a federation
World War I had enourmous consequences to the trade union movement in policy terms. The principle of ‘one organisation one industry’ brought disputes with the national Union of Railwaymen, who sought to orgainse in rail producing steel works.
It also saw John Hodge serve as first as Minister of Labour then as Minster of pensions. This saw the passing of the Trade Unions’ Amalgamation Act in 1917, which addressed many of the issues surrounding amalgamation that had plagued Hodge for decades.
The result was the formation and affiliation to the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation in 1917 and the amalgamation into the Confederation in 1918.