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Issue No. 132 | 19 April 2002 |
Brand Spanking
Interview: Generation Next Legal: We�re All Terrorists Now Unions: Holding the Baby International: Taking It To The Streets History: Off the Wall Economics: Financing International Development Satire: Queen Mum's Life Tragically Cut Short Review: Return of The People�s Parliament Poetry: Silent Night
Tobacco Giant's New Smoking Gun Evidence Proves McJobs A Reality Workers Die Waiting For Justice Sick As A Dog Or Pissed As A Parrot? Workers� Anthem � Hip Hop or Grunge? DOCS Crisis � At Risk Kids Slipping Through Net Call Centre Workers Stiffed - Survey South Coast Medical Centre in Della�s Sights Sydney Take-Off For Security Campaign Intel Faces Email Censure Challenge Megawati Reopens Marsinah Case
The Soapbox The Locker Room Bosswatch Week in Review
Where's the Silver Tail?
Labor Council of NSW |
History Off the Wall
********** Trade unions since their beginnings over 200 years ago have produced many powerful posters about struggles for pay, better conditions, social justice and human rights. Fortunately some union members have also been keenly aware of their history and the need to preserve memories of these campaigns. Rodney Mace has performed a great service by putting together a book of British trade union posters. The book has been made possible by the largest British union, UNISON. John Gorman began the work for the book in 1988 after publishing his successful book on union banners in 1986. Unfortunately John passed away before finishing his work but Rodney Mace has developed it into the present book. The posters are drawn from archives and libraries throughout Britain and tell of strikes, picket lines, recruitment drives, demonstrations, meetings and social struggles held by workers whose activities have been a major force in shaping British society over the past two centuries. The posters are drawn from about 350 uncovered during research for the book and are arranged into six historical periods from 1800 to 2000. Up until about 1860 posters were most like handbills as they advanced arguments and reasons for strikes or disputes. Poetic language was also a feature of many, particularly the miners union posters. The works of Shelley inspired some miners. Some appealed to the moral basis of society. The mason's strike of 1841 during the building of the Houses of Parliament was not about wages but that "the employer not only expected to purchase the labour of a man but also his soul." The change from explanatory posters to those with a short simple massage reflected an awareness of the importance of media. The simple placard message could quickly become a newspaper headline that got the message out further. Mace thinks that the mass carrying of banners and placards did not really become widespread until the 1960s. The way posters have been designed and manufactured has also changed dramatically over the past 200 years. Through the nineteenth century unions employed local printers who used wood-type to design and make their posters with attention being paid to simple legibility and eye-catching headlines. The development of lithographic printing in the 1890s was the beginning of the modern poster design. Since 1970 unions have employed well-known poster designers and some have used sympathetic design companies. Some of the larger unions like the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and the National Association of Local Government Officers (now UNISON) have their own in house design teams. The importance of modern media a nd communications skills has lead the push by some unions to professionalise poster production. There is a still a place for quick, handmade just-for-the-event posters. The problem for poster archivists is that few of these survive. They do because of the efforts of interested individuals like Gorman and Mace (and in Australia Alban Gillezeau). The posters in the 1800-1840 section are organized into three themes: � The struggle to maintain craft skill and wage levels and to abolish child labour � The use by the state and employers of anti-union legislation � The fight for political reform The period 1840-1880 saw radical politics affecting trade union struggles for reform and justice. Victories were gained on issues of recognition and the extension of the franchise for some working class men. From 1880 to 1920 the posters reflect the growth of general unionism under the influence of socialist and European Marxist ideas and the triumph of labour representation in Parliament. The posters from 1920-1950 show the twin crises of capitalism impacting on the workers -fascism and the Great Depression. The call for nationalization of industry to protect workers, and the powerful simple message of one poster: WORKLESS MEN HOARDED MONEY IDLE MACHINES SPELL CAPITALISM SUM IT UP. The period from 1950 to 1980 saw unions go from being almost a part of the government to being seen as the cause of the decline of Britain in the world economy. Unions and the governments from both parties fought over anti-union legislation and the decline of traditional industries. We see the beginnings of the cuts to the public sector, the attacks on the miners in the early 1970s (under Heath), a defence of shop closing hours and cuts to local government. The vicious attacks of the Thatcher years dominate the 1980s posters as she challenged the very existence of trade unions. The post war welfare state also came under the gun and unions were heavily involved in the defence of many services that are very important to working people. Issues such as equal pay, racism, rights of gay and lesbian people, the poll tax (which eventually brought Thatcher down), the bitter coal dispute of 1984 and environmental concerns feature. This is beautifully produced book and its great that UNISON have backed it. UNISON has been a standard setter in union communications through posters and the Internet. As the author says, it may stimulate unions to see the value of the "ephemera" they produce as important for the historical record and the future of the union movement. BRITISH TRADE UNION POSTERS: an illustrated history by Rodney Mace published by Sutton Publishing Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestshire in association with UNISON, 1999
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