Nerve Calendar 2011

Eldon S treet, Vauxhall, 1910 (picture from Carl Fletcher)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

JANUARY 2011

James Sexton says RuskinCollege (of which he is now

a governor) will producefuture labour leadership

Hawarden Bridge steelworksre-opens after successful 10-

month strike.

Sydney Street siege in EastLondon sparks nationwideparanoia about anarchists

London newspaper saysLiverpool is the most activecentre of anarchism in the

provinces

Alleged Liverpool sightings of 'Peter the

Painter' (Jewish anarchistSidney Street suspect)

2,500 boiler-scalers strikefor wage increase andreduced hours. Police

prevent picketingStriking scalers picket Allan

Line and Langton Dock

Employers of scalers offer10% wage increase and

arbitration, which scalersrefuse

Carters' union membership inBirkenhead increased as wage

increase granted

Board of Trade officialarrives Liverpool to mediate

in scalers strike

Reported that seamen’s strikelikely to disrupt the King's

Coronation in June

Boiler-scalers’ strike settledwith wage increase and no

victimisation

Shop Assistants Unionsoiree at Kings Cafe to

boost women’s membership

Liverpool shopkeepers willgive staff 60 hour week and

a half day offMeeting of Anti-Vivisection

Society at Adelphi

Liverpool Anti-SweatingLeague hold Annual Meeting

at Common Hall

Public Holiday

Also in this month...Liverpool Printing Trades Federation mass meeting demands 48-hour week (7th)Rev Herbert Dunnico says National Service League is a device to introduce conscription (26th)Liverpool Association of Womens' Trade Unions formed

www.catalystmedia.org.ukNerve 1911 - 2011 Calendar

Ragged Trousered Philanthropist s at work (Artwork by Alan Murray)


1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28

FEBRUARY 2011

Special Labour Partyconference votes toorganise nationally

not just in Parliament

Robert Tressell (Noonan),author of 'Ragged Trousered

Philanthropists', dies inRoyal Infirmary

Ramsay MacDonald electedchairman of Labour Party

Union official warns thatLondon printers' strike mayspread across the country

National Union of WomenWorkers local branchmembership up from

273 to 312

Labour RepresentationCommittee says new PoorLaw order 'will drive manymore into the workhouse'

James Clarke, black docker,saves a man from drowning

in Collingwood Dock

University studentsdemonstrate: 'Hands off St

George's Hall'

Wallasey Carters Uniondemand wage increase and

shorter hours (employersconcede on 20th)

Trades Council celebratesits 63rd anniversary

First repertory theatreseason: opens with J

Galsworthy's Strife (aboutstrike at a tin-plate works)

Edward Whitley, Labour citycouncillor (Edge Hill), resigns

from ill-health. WR Blair tocontest by-election

Reported that Women’sFreedom League plans

'census parties' to avoidbeing counted in the census

Long debate in Parliamenton 'Akbar Inquiry' report

(see article page 30)

Wallasey carters threatenstrike to force reinstatementof those dismissed following

wage settlement

200 refractory heating boysat Cammell Lairds walk outdemanding wage increase

Union Buttons (left to right)Seamen, Stewards, Dockers,

Carters, Railworkers

Also in this month...Board of Trade declines to set up a Conciliation Board for the shipping industry (17th)James Sexton wins libel action over pamphlet accusing him of assisting the prosecution ofJim Larkin (17th/18th)


Casual labour : South End dockers wait for a day's work. Many wear the union badge or 'button'


1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

MARCH 2011

300 boy rivet-beaters atCammell Lairds strike

(one day)

Print unions and employersagree to reduce working

week to 51 hours

300 Wallasey carters strike.Picket of Kings Theatre in

Seacombe21st anniversary of 'the

great dock strike' (1890)

Striking Wallasey carters rally at Seacombe,

clash with police. Mayoroffers to mediate

Navvies building the newGladstone dock strike for

wage increase, form StrikeCommittee next day

9 Wallasey carters taken to court for 'quitting

employment'. Strike ends thatevening and case dropped

200 platers helpers atTranmere Bay strike for wage

parity with other regions

20 women workers atMayfield Sugar Works,

Falkner Street, strike for wages to be doubled

Brussels paper reportsInternational Federation of

Seamen plans internationalstrike action

100 West African seamenstrike as Elder Dempster

only pay them half thewages of white seamen

Suffragette protester greetsSecretary for War (Haldane)at Lime Street with 'Votes for

Women' placard50,000-strong United Irish

League rally at Hippodrome

Southport painters threatenstrike action from 1 April if

conditions not improved

Bonar Law wins Bootle Parliamentary by-

election for Tories. One voteis cast by a woman

Black seamen refuse partialwage increase. Elder

Dempster recruit white crewto replace them

Trades Council informedthat unskilled workers aredoing skilled work on the

Liver Building

Suffragette meeting atHardman Hall highlights

injustice of 'the census andno vote'

Parcel delivery drivers strikeand win reinstatement oftheir boy assistants who

demand higher wages

Sandon Studios Societyholds debate on post-

impressionist art

British SummerTime begins

Also in this month...Sandon Studios Society hold modern art exhibition at Bluecoat (4th till end of month)Navvies strike settled with demands partially met. All have joined Navvies Union (10th)Suffragette magazine Votes for Women discusses plans to defy the census (30th)

First InternationalWomen’s Day


The 1911 tram map of Liverpool - The thick blue line marks the city boundary


1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

APRIL 2011

Suffragettes on St George’s Plateau (1908)

Suffragettes completecensus form with one male

name and 'no other personsbut many women'

W B Yeats and LadyGregory direct Dublin Abbey

Theatre players at Kellys Theatre

Four Birkenhead wardssupport votes for women but 'no quorum' prevents

council voteCity Council declares by-

election in Edge Hill

Union official wins damages claim against

employer arising fromJanuary scalers' dispute

30 Mersey railway conductors strike for

a day and demonstrate atCentral Station

50 Mersey railwayconductors walk out again

as talks unproductive

Election meeting of WilliamBlair, Labour candidate in

Edge Hill council by-election

Railway Clerks Associationwins pay increases for its

members

Announced that Daily Herald(started as London printers'strike sheet) will be a daily

Labour paper

Keir Hardie at Liverpool Peace Society

denounces church supportfor Territorial parades

Edge Hill Council by-election. Conservatives

regain from Labour

Public Holiday

Public Holiday

Also in this month...50% of gasworkers are now in the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers (10th)Chief Officer Lovelock of Heswall Reformatory School (Akbar) resigns after report critical ofmaltreatment of boys (11th)


The Liver Building opened 19 July 191 1 - The Birds were unfinished (picture from Bluecoat Press)


30 31 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

MAY 2011

Feeder marches from Northand South docks to major

transport workers' rally on StGeorge's Plateau

Liverpool and District ChurchSocialist League Annual

Meeting at Common Hall

Labour officials criticiseState Insurance plans as

employee contributions willbe too high

Women's EnfranchisementBill gets Commons second

reading but will not become law

Reported that internationalseamen’s strike set for 29thby secret meeting last week

Trades Council notes RoyalLiver paid extra £20,000 to

meet union rates on Liver Building

Transport WorkersFederation Secretary visits

Liverpool to organise demoand first national conference

Seamen’s union GeneralSecretary complains

Shipping Federation will notmeet union delegates

Railway Clerks' AssociationAnnual Conference inLiverpool calls for rail

nationalisation

Adele Pankhurst tellssuffragette meeting there

will be another Londondemo soon

Meeting of PeacePropaganda in Byrom Hall.Resolution against war and

increasing armaments

Meeting of sailors, firemen, dockers at St

Martin’s Hall welcomesstriking African seamen

Seamen's union CanningPlace office displays notice:

"Sailors and Firemen -watch for the signal"

300 platers helpers atCammell Lairds strike for

wage increase

Striking platers at CammellLairds are joined on strike by

590 general labourersCammell Lairds crane-

drivers strike

Public Holiday

Public Holiday

Also in this month...Co-operative Union reports that Liverpool has 13,000 members (17th)Havelock Wilson calls on shipowners to set up conciliation boards (23rd)Carters Union warn members not to work with carters recruited through Labour Exchange (26th)


Strike Committee leader T om Mann addressed several meetings a day through the summer (picture from Bluecoat Press)


1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

JUNE 2011

Transport WorkersFederation holds first Annual

Conference at EngineersHall (3 days)

International Seamen’sStrike Committee begins 3-day meeting in London

200 Jewish cabinet-makersare locked out over demand

for increased wages and job security

Coal porters of Southamptonstrike and hold up the White

Star’s Olympic

Women Clerks Associationhold organising meeting in

Hardman Hall

Sailors and firemen resolvenot to go and break a strike

in Southampton

RMS Baltic arrivesLiverpool. Crew do not sign

on for next voyage,demanding wage increase

Havelock Wilson writes toUK Shipowners Association

with last-minute plea to avoid strike

Tom Mann arrives in Liverpoolto lead the seamen’s strikewith poster "War Declared:

We Strike for Liberty"

Seamen’s strike begins as500 seamen refuse to sign

on. Mass meetings inLiverpool and London

Several big shipping firmsconcede wage increases

Strike leaders turn attentionto smaller firms. Dockers are

also in state of unrest

250 women take special trainfrom Liverpool to join 40,000-

strong women’s 5-mile'Coronation' suffrage march

Carters meeting at StMartin's Hall expresses

support for seamen

Stewards on four ships jointhe strike of

sailors and firemen

Dockers refuse to work onships where owners have

not conceded. Carters do the same

4,000 rally at St George's.All Shipping Federationseamen are called out.

Dockers and carters support

Elder Dempster charter depotship Friesland for 3 weeks to

supply non-union labour

50 dockers strike at BramleyMoore dock in support of

seamen and firemen(successful after two days)

Coronation of King George V.Docks all quiet

Report that the strike hasspread to Dublin and Hull.

CPR Line concedes strikers' demands

Seamen and stewards agreewage increase and unionrecognition with Cunard,

White Star and Allan Lines

90 tailors and tailoressesstrike (successfully) at Joseph

Davies', Russell Street. Girlsplan to form a union

Dockers present their owndemands for unionrecognition. 2,000

coalheavers also strike

Dockers defy StrikeCommittee advice and insist

on recognition and payment of union rates

George Milligan (secretaryof North End NUDL) joins

Strike Committee as dockers stay out

Also in this month...Cabinetmakers locked out over demand to end piecework system (10th)Dockers refuse to unload Pointer (from Glasgow) until striking crew reinstated (18th)Black sailors and firemen join crew of Elder Dempster ship Aro on strike (19th)

Banner of North End dockers

(NUDL No 12 Branch)


Move over W G Grace - young striker keep s a straight bat (picture from Bluecoat Press)


1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

JULY 2011

Strike Committee meetsNorth End dockers, agrees

to include their demands in negotiations

Rally of 5,000 on StGeorge's Plateau hears that

the largest rail unionsupports the strike

Return to work at thoseshipping companies where

union is now recognised

2,000 Hawarden Bridgesteelworkers strike over

employment of non-unionlabour (resolved after a week)

Tugboatmen return to workafter four-day strike

Agents try to recruit strike-breakers for London

but no one volunteers

200 dockers’ delegates meetat Engineers Hall. Manifesto

calls for 'loyalty and solidarity'Coasting ship owners agree

to raise minimum wage

Tobacco warehousemen win wage increases after

five-day strike

Trades Council addressed byTom Mann who calls for

support for transport strike

150 strike at Dock Board'swool warehouse (succeed

after one week)

Dockers’ union convenesmeeting of cotton porters.

Many join the union

Rally at St George's Plateau.Tom Mann thanks public,press and police for 'the

goodwill shown towards us’

250 girls at Walton rubber works strike

for wage increase (succeed after three days)

700 men at Silcocks oil millsstrike for wage increase

(succeed after 2 days)

Workers at Fairrie & Cosugar refinery on Vauxhall

Road strike and win instant wage increase

500 tram workers holdgrievance meeting. 300

declare ready to join a union

Strike at Dock Boardgrainhouses in Liverpool

and Birkenhead successful

700 Skelmersdale minersstrike over employment of

non-union labour (one week)

Shipping companies set upcommittee to

meet with unions

Sexton presents demands atfirst meeting of

shipowners and unions

Workers at MacFie sugarrefinery strike

for wage increase

International MinersCongress calls for 8-hourday and two weeks paid

holiday a yearStrike settled at North Shore

flour mills

900 out of 1600 tramworkers now belong

to a new union

Second meeting betweenshipowners and unions

appoints sub-committee todraw up agreement

Also in this month...Strike Committee forms a District Council of National Transport Workers Federation (13th)Goods porters at Lancs and Yorks North Docks station demand wage increase and reduced hours1000 workers at six oil mills strike for wage increase (31st)


The 'Monster demonstration' at S t George's Plateau on 13 August (picture from Bluecoat Press)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

AUGUST 2011

Stanhope Street meeting foruniting all brewery workers inone union ('trade union ale')

Transport WorkersFederation organises large

meeting of Garston dockers

'White Book’ agreementbetween shipowners and

unions signed, effective immediately

Tugboatmen win wageincrease following last

month's strike

1,200 Lancs and Yorks railgoods porters strike at

North Docks depot and picket other stations

Mass meeting of tram workers at

Litherland tram station

Brunswick Dock goods porters (Cheshire

Lines) strike. Pickets stopgoods at Lime Street

3,500 now on strike atgoods stations. Carters and

shunters refuse to cross picket lines

Engine-drivers refuse to takeimported scabs to North

Docks station. Birkenheadgoods yards closed

400 troops arrive Seaforthbarracks. Extra police arrivefrom Leeds and Birmingham

Many shop assistants told totake a week's holiday.

St John’s Gardens occupied by police

Board of Trade officialarrives Liverpool to consult

with Lord Mayor

Bloody Sunday: 80,000-strong demonstration

attacked by police on StGeorge's Plateau

Lockout of all cargo work ondocks. Strike committee

declares general transportstrike from next day

Five prison vans attacked.Soldiers shoot dead

Michael Prendergast and John Sutcliffe

Rail union officials go fromLiverpool meeting to London.

Strike committee calls outtram workers from midnight

Rail unions meet at Board ofTrade, reject offer of Royal

Commission and callnational rail strike

Rail talks continue. Strikingtram workers parade.

Electric lighting in city goesout. No street-cleaning

Rail company owners jointalks. Rail strike settled with

reinstatement and Railway Commission

Funeral of MichaelPrendergast (shot on 15th) at

Catholic cemetery. 250 Protestants attend

Strike Committee calls for no return to work

until tram workers reinstated

More tram workersreinstated (not all). Railway

Commission opensHMS Antrim leaves Mersey,

more troops leave the city

General return to work. 180tram workers reinstated.

First troops withdraw

Shipowners meeting withunions. Mass meeting in

Bootle agrees return to work

City Council agrees toreinstate tram workers 'asand when required'. Strike

declared over

Rally to support tram workers.Tom Mann goes to London to

call for strike in support

Railwaymen return to work.Tom Mann tells meeting: "weare on the eve of a complete

and glorious victory."

Newsboys strike

Magistrates told Riot Actwas read ten times and

4,142 special constablesenrolled for strike-breaking

Inquests on MichaelPrendergast and John

Sutcliffe (shot by soldiers).Verdict: 'justifiable homicide'

Public Holiday

Also in this month...Strike Committee issues permits for transport of essential goodsPolice insist that the film of Bloody Sunday be edited to remove their attacks on the crowd (14th)'Don't Shoot' leaflet of stonemason Fred Bower urges soldiers not to fire on striking workers

First edition ofTransport Workers’paper (8th)

HMS Antrim on the Mersey (18th to 27th)


Convoys with police and milit ary escort were a daily sight in August (picture from Bluecoat Press)


1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

SEPTEMBER 2011

First meeting of newTransport Workers Council

regards tram dispute as still not settled

5,000-strong East Londonrally remembers those 'killedin the interests of capitalism'

in Liverpool and LlanelliLiverpool stations still full of

goods awaiting transport

TUC conference deploresuse of military in trade

disputes

United Irish League urgesHome Office clemency

towards those convicted ofstrike disorders

TUC salutes 'magnificentefforts' of transport and

women workers in recentdisputes

6,000 demonstrate againstTram Committee's failure toreinstate over 130 workers

'Schoolboy strikes' atelementary school

Trades Council urgesdonations for locked-out

tram workers

50-60 Cammell Lairdsdrillers strike against

piecework system

Rev H D Roberts at HopeStreet church advocates

nationalising railways

Meeting at St Martin's Hallprotests 'odiously savage'

police actions on 'Red RiotSunday' (13 Aug)

National League for theBlind rally on St George'sPlateau calls for free tram

transport for blind

Walker Art Gallery autumnexhibition of modern art (till

Jan 1912). Strike backlogholds up some exhibits

Transport Workers Councilcomplains that 80 tram

workers still not reinstated

Lancs and Yorks railwayclerical workers meet to

protest at low level of wages

Teachers picket a Liverpoolhotel for holding interviewsto replace striking teachers

on Isle of Man

Also in this month...Anti-Sweating League organises 500 shop workers into unionFirst statutory meeting of Liverpool Repertory Theatre company (25th)Railway Commission takes evidence from employers and unions

"They don't turn to theauthorities and ask for convoy

which they could get. OurStrike Committee permit is of

greater value" - Tom Mann


Reinst ating the sacked 250 tram workers was a major issue through the autumn (picture from Bluecoat Press)


31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

OCTOBER 2011

LNWR announce wageincreases. Unions continue

to demand recognition

Arthur Bulley's Council electionleaflet. There was a Con-Lib pact 'toavoid any public excitement'. Labour contested 19 out of 35 wards

Shop Assistants Unionconference calls for longer

breaks in working day

Meeting at YMCA in supportof trade unionism among

women workers

Tom Mann addresses TailorsTrade Union at Daulby Hall,denounces sweating system

City cllr Austin Harford saysBirmingham police behaved

like 'bashi-bazouks' onBloody Sunday

James Sexton letter defendshis description in Council of

police as 'uniformed hooligans'Post and telegraph workers’

rally demands wage increase

Garston dockers accept 10to 25% wage increase from

rail company

First meeting of dockers andshipowners under the 'White

Book’ agreement

Tom Mann addressesHardman Hall meeting ofNational Union of Clerks

H M Hyndman addressesSDP meeting at Sun Hall, says

liberalism is 'the handmaid ofthe capitalist classes'

Ship Stewards unionmembership has increased

from 4,000 to 10,000

Labour election rally atLiverpool stadium. Dockersunion membership up from

9,000 to 33,000

Railway Commission reportdoes not recommend

union recognition

Keir Hardie addressesIndependent Labour Party

rally at Sun Hall

J M Labouchere, Labour cityauditor, criticises financial

running of Council

'Three cheers for solidarity'disrupt Conservative election

meeting in Kensington

James Sexton calls forinquiry into police brutality

on 13 AugustLabour open-air election

meeting in Garston

Election meeting of Fred Bower (Labour and

Socialist, Dingle)

Liverpool Railway JointStrike Committee 'profoundly

disappointed' with RailwayCommission report

Tom Mann and Sextonaddress 1,000 at Picton Hall

election meeting

British SummerTime ends

Also in this month...Prof Benjamin Moore disputes medical officer's view that the strike increased city's death rateStar Theatre on Williamson Square will open as Liverpool Playhouse next monthCouncil workers protest at Health committee delay in dealing with August pay demands (20th)


X marks the spot - John Sutcliffe was shot dead here by soldiers on 15 August (picture from Bluecoat Press)


1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

NOVEMBER 2011

Council elections: Labourgain 6 seats in Liverpool, 2

in Birkenhead Tom Mann leaves Liverpool

Rail unions decide to ballotmembership by 4 December

on Commission report andpossible strike action

Liverpool Railway JointStrike Committee rejects

Railway Commission reportLNWR makes concessions

to carters over hours of work

Christabel Pankhurst sayssuffragettes will act against

Manhood Suffrage Bill

City council meeting.enlivened by Labour group

(now 7 strong)

Lancs and Yorks railannounce wage increases

for lower-paid

Star theatre re-opens asLiverpool Playhouse, staging

The Admirable Crichton(J M Barrie)

Trades Council notes that 40tram workers are still

not reinstated

Trades Council calls onLabour Party to campaignfor full voting rights for all

men and women

Trades Council delegatewins by-election, becomes

Birkenhead's 5th Labour councillor

Rail unions win all 42 seatson the new Lancs and Yorks

rail conciliation board

Liverpool branch of General Railway Workers

Union rejects RailwayCommission report

Playhouse theatre stages'Justice' (J Galsworthy) -

'fascinating and yet terriblydepressing'

70 electricians strike atCammell Lairds

Carters and scavengersdemand union rates of pay

from City CouncilWomen’s suffrage rally in

Sun Hall

Liverpool women march inbig London suffragette demo

where 223 arrested

Liverpool suffragette Patricia Woodlock jailed 21

days for damage on Londonmarch (21st)

LiverpoolPlayhouseopens(11th)

Also in this month...Suffragette play 'Outlawed' performed at Royal Court Rail companies announce several wage increases to head off more strikes 300-400 men and women of Jewish Tailors Union strike (3 weeks)

The funeral of Michael Prendergast, shot

by soldiers on 15 August


Igniting the spirit - Tom Mann catches up with a modern-day politician while Nick Clegg clutches at the toga-tails of David Cameron (Original artwork from John O'Neill)


1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

DECEMBER 2011

Rail employers agree tomeet unions in London

2,000 carters at St Martin’sHall vote for strike action

Cammell Lairds electriciansresume work after 10-day

strike

Report lists medicalcomplaints of Liverpool

telephone girls (nervousbreakdowns, fainting fits)

Playhouse says appointmentof Charles Brookfield as

examiner of plays discreditscensorship laws

Liverpool author applies tocourt for return of play scripts

not returned by the censors

Coal carters meet withemployers and resolve

dispute

Barmen and managersresolve to organise

a trade union800 short carters strike for

better wages and conditions

Second day of strike by 400bargemen on Leeds-

Liverpool canal

Stonemasons union resolves to try to unite 23

building unionsCarters dispute with city

council is settled

Short carters disputetemporarily resolved

till next month

Telephone employeesprotest that January

takeover by Post Office willreduce wages

Transport unions order boycott of Dundee steamers

at other ports including Liverpool

Liverpool railway goodsworkers plan to form new

union in New Year

Liverpool trade expected tobe reduced by lock-out at

Lancashire millsG B Shaw gives lecture at

Walker Art Gallery

Public Holiday Public Holiday

Also in this month...Rail dispute settled, still without full union recognition (result of strike ballot is notpublished) (11th)Miners are set to issue national strike ballot in campaign for minimum wage


Nerve Calendar 2011

Documents

Transcript of Nerve Calendar 2011