Nerve 11 - Title

February 1949: Unity produce '100 years Hard' to mark centenary of Trades Council (founded in 1848)

16th September 1932: Second day of four days of demonstrations forcing Birkenhead Council to increase Public Assistance rates to their maximum

‘Left Theatre’ produced by Merseyside Unity Theatre says the following of the early 30s and how '100 years Hard' came about:

The crisis of world capitalism hit hard on Merseyside. There were seldom fewer than 100,000 out of work. Casual labour on the docks, contract work on shifts, seasonal fluctuations in many trades, the lack of a firm industrial base, all made for insecurity even in times of comparative prosperity. Rank and file workers, often against the advice of local leaders, fought against Government cuts and the Means Test. They took the struggle on to the streets. Leo McGree, a leading Communist, chained himself to the Town Hall railings in Liverpool. Joe Rawlings, a member of the National Unemployed Workers Movement, invaded the Council Chamber itself in Birkenhead and warned the assembly:

"We’re not here to ask you for anything. We’re here to make certain demands, and all the unemployed of the town are behind us. If you don’t believe me, look out of the window. There are ten thousand desperate men out there. Think of that. Do you know what the Means Test means to them? It means bread and marge and tea three times a day, starving kids, boys with no hope, old people living on their children. I tell you the Means Test and the dole cuts are eating into our very vitals. Those men out there don’t care what happens to them. The police are holding them back now but they won’t be able to much longer. I tell you it’ll be like hell let loose in this town."

A few days later all hell was let loose when police raided the workers’ tenement, Morpeth Buildings, and in the words of one victim:

The screams of the women and children were terrible. We could hear the thuds of blows from the batons. Presently our doors were bashed. Twelve police rushed in, knocking my husband to the floor, splitting his head open, kicking him as he lay. I tried to prevent them hitting my husband. They began to baton me all over the body. As they hit me and Jim, the children were screaming and the police shouted, ‘Shut up, you parish-fed bastards’.

This was the stuff of drama. Merseyside Unity Theatre used it in their documentary 100 Years Hard for the centenary of the Liverpool Trades Council in 1948. (pp7-8)

Tony Lane, in ‘Some Merseyside Militants of the 1930s’ says:

The Militants Remember
In the last two weeks of September 1932, Birkenhead and Liverpool were in a state of near insurrection. Demonstrations, battles with the police, and looting of shops went on in Birkenhead for four days from 15 September. In Liverpool there were similar scenes on 21 and 22 September. The causes were not hard to find, for the autumn of 1932 marked a high point in nation-wide demonstrations and general agitation against the means test. On Merseyside it was Birkenhead that provided the catalyst. In the afternoon of 15 September a 5,000 strong demonstration of unemployed workers, organised by the NUWM [National Unemployed Workers Movement], marched to the PAC [Public Assistance] offices in Conway Street. After some argument a deputation was eventually allowed in to address the PAC sub-committee. The deputation receiving no satisfaction the demonstrators took them selves off to the house of Alderman Baker, the Tory PAC chairman, in a Birkenhead suburb. A battle ensued as the police broke up the demonstration and five arrests were made. Feeling grew in intensity after that, especially since the police had made a point of arresting, on trumped-up charges, the bulk of the NUWM leadership. Demonstrations, skirmishes, and street battles continued sporadically for another three days.
From: Building the Union - 125 years of Trades Council (p160)

Stephen F. Kelly in ‘Idle Hands, Clenched Fists: The Depression in a Shipyard Town’ says:

After a lull on Sunday lasting most of the daytime hours, serious rioting returned to Birkenhead’s streets that evening. Even with their reinforcements, the police could not contain the situation. Around Conway Street and the docks, the working- class streets of back-to-back terraced houses had become virtual no-go areas for the police, though they battled to gain a foothold. Then, in a determined effort to seize control, the police began to terrorize the residents. They descended on the area in lorry loads, blocking off entrances and invading private homes, often coming through the back doors which were usually unlocked. They claimed that they were searching for goods from the shops that had been looted. Their invasion led to many allegations of brutality against them. (p74)

…Serious allegations about police conduct were repeated in court when the 31 people arrested over the weekend came up before the bench. In court the Chief Constable promised to initiate an inquiry into the allegations but, if such an inquiry was ever made, its findings were never published. (p75)

…Monday 19th September was to be an important day for Birkenhead’s thousands of unemployed and their families. After a weekend of extensive rioting, they were in no mood for back- peddling or fudging by the Public Assistance Committee. The PAC knew this; so did the Conservative Council and the Chief Constable. For their part, the unemployed knew that they had to keep up the pressure. This time Joe Rawlings wasn’t there to advise them. Leo McGree had been arrested in Liverpool and was in detention, accused of inciting a riot. Other known members of the Communist Party had been seized by the police in dawn swoops. But there were still some political activists able to encourage and organise the day’s demonstration. (p77)

…Shortly after the meeting of the Public Assistance Committee had started, a deputation was allowed inside the PAC offices. The Committee had agreed to receive a deputation from the Birkenhead branch of the NUWM. At first it seemed that the members of the deputation were destined to sit through another depressing session, as resolutions were re-submitted and left to lie on the table once more. When success finally came, it happened unexpectedly and almost casually. Item 39 on the agenda proposed that the weekly scale of relief for able-bodied single men be increased from 12s to 15s 3d, and for single women to 13s 6d. It was proposed and agreed almost without discussion, and submitted for ratification to the next Council meeting. The members of the NUWM deputation were informed that, having been passed by the PAC, the Council’s approval of the increases was assured.
A genuine victory had been won. The increases would help to make life significantly easier for those without work. The rise worked out at more than 25 per cent and represented a considerable improvement. At the PAC meeting it was also announced that work schemes costing £170,000 would be introduced that winter to help alleviate unemployment, and this would mean jobs for many. In addition, the Council was committed to lobbying the Government for an end to the Means Test. members of the NUWM deputation were informed that, having been passed by the PAC, the Council’s approval of the increases was assured.
A genuine victory had been won. The increases would help to make life significantly easier for those without work. The rise worked out at more than 25 per cent and represented a considerable improvement. At the PAC meeting it was also announced that work schemes costing £170,000 would be introduced that winter to help alleviate unemployment, and this would mean jobs for many. In addition, the Council was committed to lobbying the Government for an end to the Means Test. (pp79-80)

See also: http://socialistalternative.org/literature/liverpool/ch1.html

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