James Rowan (November 1871 – January 1944) was a British trade union leader.
The British people, or the Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Celtic Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It may also refer to citizens of the former British Empire.
A trade union, also called a labour union or labor union (US), is an association of workers in a particular trade, industry, or company created for the purpose of securing improvement in pay, benefits, working conditions or social and political status through collective bargaining and working conditions through the increased bargaining power wielded by creation of a monopoly of the workers. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies.
Born in Rochdale, [1] Rowan began working at the age of ten, then later became an armature winder in Manchester, before travelling the UK working as an electrician. [2] He joined the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in 1897, and was elected as its Salford branch secretary in 1899. [2] [1]
Rochdale is a town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines on the River Roch, 5.3 miles (8.5 km) northwest of Oldham and 9.8 miles (15.8 km) northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, which had a population of 211,699 in 2011.
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 545,500 as of 2017. It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous built-up area, with a population of 3.2 million. It is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council.
The City of Salford, commonly known as Salford, is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, extending west to include the towns of Eccles, Worsley, Swinton, Walkden, Little Hulton, and Irlam. The city has a population of 245,600, and is administered from the Salford Civic Centre in Swinton.
Rowan was a delegate to the Manchester and Salford Trades Council from 1900, and was a founder member of the Labour Representation Committee in the city. In 1904, he was appointed as full-time National Organiser of the ETU, and in three years managed to increase membership from 1,000 to 1,500. In May 1907, Alfred Ewer, the union's general secretary, disappeared, and was later found to have emigrated to Australia, having embezzled £144 of union funds. Rowan was appointed as acting general secretary and won an election for the permanent post in July 1907. [2]
The Labour Representation Committee (LRC) was a pressure group founded in 1900 as an alliance of socialist organisations and trade unions, aimed at increasing representation for labour interests in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Labour Party traces its origin to the LRC's foundation.
Rowan was elected to the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1921, serving until 1935. In 1933, he was a TUC delegate to the American Federation of Labour, and he represented the TUC at the International Labour Organisation on five occasions. [3] He also served on the council of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions, [4] and various Joint Industrial Councils. [3]
The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC).
The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU), often known as the Confed is a trade union confederation in the United Kingdom.
Rowan ultimately served until 1941. He oversaw rapid growth in the union; from 1,500 members in 1907, it grew to more than 80,000 on his retirement. [2] The early 1920s proved a difficult time for the union, and he negotiated a merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union, but this was rejected by the membership. He became known for his anti-communism but, despite this, members of the Communist Party of Great Britain became increasingly prominent in the union. [4]
The Transport and General Workers' Union was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate itself from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union - with 900,000 members. It was founded in 1922, and its first general secretary was Ernest Bevin.
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense rivalry. Anti-communism has been an element of movements holding many different political positions, including nationalist, social democratic, liberal, libertarian, conservative, fascist, capitalist, anarchist and even socialist viewpoints.
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.
