Craft Unions

There were many leaders of craft unions that were in favour of conciliation. However, not all leaders were looking for a compromise. There were more and more craft union leaders interested in politics. This was because they wanted representation in parliament. The craft unions had faced two problems. They needed to be able to protect their funds and the right to strike without facing the risk of prosecution. Craft unions would get involved in elections. They would support a particular candidate to have some influence in politics. In 1852, William Newton of the Engineers stood as a candidate for the Tower Hamlets division of London: he had polled over a thousand votes but was not successful. However, this was the first time that a distinctive trade union candidate fought a parliamentary election so this was a breakthrough. In the early 1860s, a number of factors brought union officials into politics. They were already drawn into a public debate about the merits of unionism which revealed the existence of potential allies of trade unionism among professional classes. There were socialist such as J.M. Ludlow and Thomas Hughes who were barristers and Positivists such as Professor E.S Beesly and barrister, Frederic Harrison. These men had been involved in a report on trade unions that was set to be presented. Applegarth knew that if he came in contact with these individuals and by supporting them in parliamentary elections that they chose to fight, this would bring Applegarth and fellow union leaders involved in politics. The result

As a result of the 1865 election, there was a stronger radical element in parliament. There were meetings held in London and many other places to demand the right for all males nationwide to vote. After some pressure by unionists, reform was achieved to demand manhood suffrage and this represented the pivotal role that unionists played to get this reform passed. There was also increased pressure to reform the Master & Servant Law. The current law was deemed to be unfair to the employee on the basis that the employee could be tried for breach of contract and face imprisonment whereas the employer was only liable for civil proceedings which show how advantageous the law was to the employer. There was a campaign for reform which resulted in the law being softened in 1867. Even then, this did not satisfy the trade unions. However, the unions faced further problems with the 1866 Sheffield Outrages and the outcome of the case of Hornby v Close. In 1866, trade unionists in Sheffield were accused of committing acts of violence to intimidate non-unionists. This in turn gave the unions a negative reputation. Hornby v Close was a court case which ruled that trade unions were illegal associations. The court case occurred due to a treasurer of a boilermakers society in Bradford had stolen £24 from union funds. The union had took the treasurer to court but the courts ruled that union funds were not protected by law therefore this had weakened the position of trade unions.

The government had set up a Royal Commission which led to the craft unions to set up their own leadership movement named the Junta. The aim of the Junta was to ensure that the Royal Commission conducted their hearings as favourable to unionism as possible. The Junta was determined for the trade