New Model Union
Open-knowledge reference entry
New Model Trade Unions (NMTU) were a variety of Trade Unions prominent in the 1850s and 1860s in the UK. The term was coined by Sidney and Beatrice Webb in their History of Trade Unionism (1894), although later historians have questioned how far New Model Trade Unions represented a 'new wave' of unionism, as portrayed by Webbs.
Features of New Model Trade Unions
In contrast to the consolidated Unions (such as the Grand National Consolidated Trade Union) common in the 1830s and 1840s, New Model Unions tended to be restricted to individual trades. These were generally relatively highly paid skilled trades (including artisans), allowing the Unions to charge comparatively high subscription fees. Their leadership tended to be more reformist, with an emphasis on negotiations and education rather than strike action, and this led them to be viewed as more 'respectable'. This was partly because since they represented skilled workers, there was not a large source of labour for their trade which employers could draw upon in the event of a strike. This also led some New Model Unions to actually restrict apprenticeships to their trade, hoping to prevent falls in wages by keeping available labour scarce. Akin to earlier Friendly Societies, members of New Model Trade Unions received benefits in times of need, such as during periods of illness, injury and unemployment.
The 'Junta'
The Webbs termed a group of leading New Model Unionists, who regularly met in London in the 1860s a junta. This group included:
William Allan, Amalgamated Society of Engineers
Robert Applegarth, Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners
Edwin Coulson, Operative Bricklayers' Society
Daniel Guile, Friendly Society of Iron Founders
George Odger, Amalgamated Society of Ladies' Shoemakers
Other names associated with the group included William Randal Cremer, Robert Danter, William Dronfield, George Howell, John Kane, Alexander Macdonald and John D. Prior.
The group did not have a formal structure, but worked together throughout numerous organisations, including the Conference of Amalgamated Trades, and the early London Trades Council and Trades Union Congress.
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