14 August 1889
Great London Dock Strike

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'New unions' (see The vote) for unskilled and casual workers start to organise in the late 1880s. For the first time, some of the poorest workers in the country have representation. Between 1888 and 1891, unions are established for dockers, gasworkers, matchmakers, railway workers, seamen and workers in the mines and cotton mills. They are more politicised than the guild-like new model unions, and believe in large-scale redistribution of wealth to give workers a better deal.

Several unions strike for better pay in 1888 and 1889, usually with success. The largest action is brought in London in August 1889, where more than 100,000 dockers strike for five weeks to win their demand of 6d an hour.

Alarmed, employers organise in return, to resist union demands. A National Free Labour Association is set up, which recruits non-union workers and supplies them to employers to break strikes. After an initial surge in growth, trade union membership shrinks.

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