Havelock wilson

[Keith Tindell]

Interesting reading on the early days of the Seamans Union, John prescott must have studied the methods with this guy, KT

http://republic-of-teesside.blogspot...-life-and.html

[robpage]

The link seems to have dropped Keith

[Charlie Hannah]

This is what i got when tried to open Link.
Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.

[john sutton]

good that its been dropped.I don't think that giving space to socialist worker is a good idea

[robpage]

Joseph Havelock Wilson, (16 August 1859 – 16 April 1929 ) was a Liberal MP for Middlesbrough endorsed by the early trade unions He was born in Sunderland, and went to sea as a boy, serving somewhere between 10 and 14 years at sea. In 1879 whilst still a seaman he married Jane Watham at Sunderland. And opened a "Temperance Hotel" , so came ashore He became involved in a local seamen's union established in Sunderland in 1879 and had become its president by 1885. This led to him being one of the founders of the National Sailors' & Firemen's Union, the first national Trade Union for seafarers, remaining president of the union until his death.

He ruled his union as dictator , Wilson's word was Law . He and the Union supported the great London Dock Strike of 1889 , he , in co-operation with the Shipowners began a recruitment , training and retention of workers system

On one famous occasion, faced with difficult ship-owner and ships captain, Wilson arranged for a galley cook to be covertly taken on, who then made sure that he arranged for both the non-union crew and the ships officers to go down with acute food poisoning.

Try and set up a rival union as the late Emmanuel Shinwell found out you would be subjected to street beatings at the hands of thugs recruited by Wilson and his lieutenants.

Like present day ambitious Union leaders he tried to get into parliament , failing to get a seat in Bristol he was successful in Middlesbrough , These patterns seem little changed over the last hundred years and with union pressure , he became the Liberal candidate then the MP until 1910 . After this in 1919 he founded the National Democrats , a far Right National patriots party , Pro fascist , anti socialist , anti communist

Like many of his ilk , he started out helping te common man , to form the seaman’s union , but In my opinion ,, became more important than those he started out helping ,

So although he started well I don't think he was a Hero of the Working classes , with hos opposition to socialism

[Keith Tindell]

Thanks for that Rob, dont know what went wrong with the link, well i do , its me . Thought of similar traits with this guy as Lord Prescott!!, regards KT