1907
THE MITCHELL REPORT
"Some movements, such as those in the metal trades, where the demands for better conditions have been almost universal throughout the country, have required little supervision, the excellent organisation of the men and the boom in trade enabling advances to be obtained in most cases without much difficulty. Of quite a different character was the strike of tailors in East London which took place last year.
The men were for the most part Jews, working more or less under the sweating system. Much time and money had been spent by the Amalgamated Society of Tailors in an endeavour to organise these men, with the result that some thousands had, by the time the lock-out took place, joined the Society. The impossibility of accurately estimating the liability which would devolve upon the society from some 2,000 workers being locked out by over 800 separate employers, and the difficulty of obtaining from their branches in so short a time the necessary funds to meet legitimate claims, induced the society officials to approach us with a request that the Federation Benefit to which they would in all likelihood be entitled, should be advanced on the understanding that an account of their disbursements would be submitted in due course. It was thought advisable that this should be done, and £1,000 was advanced. The Amalgamated Society of Tailors did splendid service in the dispute, their money, hardly earned, was generously spent to aid their Jewish brethren, their officials worked night and day for weeks in their endeavour to bring the dispute to a satisfactory settlement, and this they succeeded...
Amongst others of the movements which have more than ordinarily occupied our attention, has been that at Hanley in the Pottery trade. The technical difficulties in this trade are considerable and year after year difficulties arise about prices, sometimes with one firm, and occasionally, as this year, with a number of firms. We have no hesitation at all in saying the whole trouble is caused by lack of organisation."