Bevin: a Beast Fighting for the Bosses

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Black Friday. During the General Strike he flogged himself to death in providing whatever effective organisation came from the top.

More far-sighted than most, he saw clearly that the sell-out meant unconditional surrender but made no attempt to draw back and continue the struggle together with the miners.

....The best way to describe today is that we have committed suicide. Thousands of members will be victimised as a result of this day's work."

Of course, like all trade union leaders, Bevin had his moments. He was a superb negotiatior. His famous appearance as the Dockers' Attorney before the Shaw Inquiry captured the public imagination.

Patronise

He played a determined and important role in the Council of Action, which in 1920 stopped the government going to war with Russia. His most durable achievement was the creation of the TGWU in the early 1920's, brought about largely by his vision, determination and perseverance.

However, its constitution showed the new face of trade unions. The General Secretary was given tremendous power, elected for life and able to strongly influence & lay executive which controlled finance and strike action and patronise appointed full-time officials hampered only slightly by an annual conference which soon became bi-annual.

Bevin was, of course, the Bevin with TUC chief Citrine General Secretary, bullying Tillet to step down in his favour.

His only failure was an attempt to manoeuvre out the President, Harry Gosling, but Ernie was undoubtedly the king of the castle. As Vic Allen said, "Whenever there was conflict of opinion between Bevin and any official the latter had to give way"

Distribution of executive minutes was not on, declared Bevin. The executive must have free hand. Employero, & free isations do not distribute minutes.

'The lay members" , he stated, "must be conscious that there are certain things they cannot do and they must leave the officers to carry out the tasks in which they are employed to specialise."

After the defeat of the General Strike, Bevin, with Citrine, was the architect of collaboration. "We, on our side began to apply reason for the solution of our problems and immediately we found a willingness on the part of the reat of the community to adopt reason"

Reason was wage-cutting and victimisation. "I hate strikes" ,, he declared, "Is the strike the only way to fight?", he asked Arthur LOOK Mond Turner talks. No, ot course not, but the use of alternative methoda led to mass unemployment for 15 years.

The iron fist was used on those who disagreed. In the notorious 1937 Coronation Strike, Bevin allowed the workers to take strike action, let them exhaust themselves and then ruthlessly smashed them. Eight strike leaders were expelled or suspended from holding office.

Bevin began to play an important role in the Labour Party through the block vote and his domination of the General Council. He opposed intervention in Spain and united front work against fascism and was responsible for removing the pacifist, George Lansbury from the leadership of the Labour Party in 1935.

When war broke out the establishment knew its man. As Minister of Labour he agreed dilution with the major unions within 24 hours. "I have to ask you virtually to place yourselves at the disposal of the state."

He introduced laws against strikes that would make Norman Tebbit look soft and sent workers to prison.

"I was much in harmony with Bevin" • Churchill said. Foreign Minister in the Attlee government, Bevin played a crucial role in constructing NATO and the Cold War.

Bevin was caught in the classic trap of the bureaucrat. Insidiously, silently, unknown even to himself, he took on board the ideas of the ruling class as he became increasingly separated from his own class.

Organisation came before the aspirations of the membership, which had to be controlled lest they endangered it.

The young Bevin had talked of workers' revolution but by the 1920'g his personal revolution was complete. Bevin was not corrupt, he simply grew to love the exercise of power and wished to do nothing to endanger this.

He was the forerunner of thousands, but, more than any individual he made the labour movement what it is today. We still have to face his heritage.

You will find little of this in Mark Stephens' book. It is gush and veneration. •There was a rugged charm about him which won the hearts of all... His other great love was horses.'' - John Wayne with a Bristol accent.

Bevin was a bully and, as Beaverbrook said, %a magnificent beast": * The problem is, he was on the bosses side, not ours.