Jack Jones, former General Secretary of the TGWU (now part
of Unite) from 1969 to 1978 has died at the age of 96. Although he moved away
from the Left towards the end of his union career he was without a doubt one of
the best-known and most militant trade union leader of his day.
Born in Liverpool in 1913 he became involved as a young man in both the Transport and General
Workers Union and in the Labour Party, serving as a councillor for a few years.
He fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the International Brigade (where
he was injured) before moving up through the ranks of the TGWU after the Second
World War. Here he came into opposition to the right-wing cabal of officials
which seemed to have a firm grip on the leadership of Britain’s main trade unions
during this time. With the election of Frank Cousins as TGWU General Secretary
in 1955 the ground started to shift; Jones would later call it a watershed in
the history of the movement which reflected a growing mood for change. Jones
was seen as one of those inside the movement who was pushing for unions to move
away from just being a glorified insurance company (an idea later revived by
the architects of so-called New Realism) and instead reflect the aims of
ordinary members and support them in their struggles. In 1963, Jones became
Assistant General Secretary as the grip of the old right wing officials became
weaker and weaker.
His subsequent election in 1969 to the TGWU General
Secretary position (together with that of Hugh Scanlon in the AEU in 1967)
confirmed that process as the trade union movement moved into opposition during
the later days of the 64-70 Labour government as attempts were made by
Ministers to limit the power of trade unions to take action The proposals
contained within the ‘In Place Of Strife’paper were opposed with such ferocity
by Jones and Scanlon – who together were in charge of Britain’s two largest and
most powerful unions – that they became known by the press as "the Terrible
Twins",seen as being firmly on the Left of the movement.
Although under Jones’ leadership the TGWU played a key role
in opposing the attacks of the Heath government, elected in 1970, on the union
movement, the election of a Labour government (together with the growing
economic crisis) in 1974 presented Jones and the other trade union leaders with
a problem, as Rob Sewell explains in his history of the British trade unions:
‘In Britain, inflation rose to nearly 20 per cent, which
served to erode living standards very quickly. The economists ironically dubbed
the situation "slumpflation", reflecting a new disease of world
capitalism – a combination of slump and inflation. In order to stand still,
unions had to fight for sizable wage increases, which averaged 25.4 per cent by
the end of the year. At the same time, pre-tax profits fell from 7.2 per cent
in 1973 to 4 per cent a year later, and then continued to decline. This fall
was primarily due to the tendency in capitalism for the rate of profit to
decline. This tendency arose from the accumulation of capital, greater
resources ploughed into constant capital (materials and machinery) relative to
that invested in variable capital (wages). As the only source of surplus value
comes from variable capital, the rate of profit tends to decline. To counter
this decline, which would eventually affect the mass of profits, the
capitalists are forced to take measures to increase the exploitation of labour
power and increase their margins. In particular, they demanded that the Labour
government cut public expenditure, hold back wages and stop all state
interference.
‘According to the Financial Times,"the CBI told Mr.Wilson that there was absolutely no room for compromise or negotiation about further state intervention in industry and further nationalisation" Two days before the November Budget, the Director General of the CBI sent Wilson an open letter threatening drastic action if the government did not toe the
pro-business line. Just after the general election, big business had begun a
‘strike of capital’ with the announcement by Pilkingtons that their
£150 million investment would be shelved "until such time as essential
changes are made in taxation and price control". As in October 1964,
Wilson was again faced with the blackmail and sabotage of Britain’s ruling
class. As then, the Labour government had a choice: either capitulate to big
business or act against these powerful interests. There was no middle road.
Wilson decided to bend the knee to capital. Once again he came forward with an
incomes policy to restore profitability, known as the "Social
Contract", but later dubbed the "Social Con-trick".
‘The Left on the TUC General Council, headed by Jack Jones
and Hugh Scanlon, also faced a stark choice, either back Wilson or fight for
the alternative of socialist policies. But like the Left union leaders in 1926,
they looked over the abyss and stepped back. These left leaders had built up a
powerful reputation and massive support amongst workers because of the militant
role they had played between 1968-74. But now, lacking a clear perspective and
policy, they recoiled from an all-out struggle with the Labour government.
Instead, they used their colossal authority to back Wilson’s policies. In
September, the TUC, with the full backing of Scanlon and Jones, accepted a
"Social Contract" with the Labour government. The government, in
turn, leaned upon the trade union leadership to deliver the support from the
rank and file for this wages’ policy.
‘The problem was that it is not possible to serve two
masters and the Wilson government had already surrendered to the blackmail of
the City of London. The 1974 November Budget proved a watershed for the
government. The Chancellor announced measures to increase profitability:
reduction of corporation tax, less stringent price controls, and state handouts
for industry. Healey also announced restrictions on public expenditure for the
duration of the government. As in the past, this signalled a continuation of
orthodox economic policies, and as usual the working class was being asked to
pay for the crisis of capitalism.
‘In spite of the "Social Contract" the initialTUC guidelines on wages were quite vague. In fact real wages grew by eight per
cent between April and December 1974. However, by the spring of 1975, with the
acceleration of inflation, real take-home pay began to decline. By June real
wages were nine per cent lower than December 1974, and living standards were
falling. Wages were chasing higher prices and falling behind. Yet the
economists who had the ear of the Labour government argued that prices were
following wages, and that the latter had to be controlled to halt inflation.
‘At this point the government used the sterling crisis to
turn its policy firmly to the right, to the delight of big business. Denis
Healey announced that he intended to reduce inflation – which was around 30 per
cent – to 10 per cent by the following wage round, and to single figures by the
end of 1976. Since the government regarded wages as the main cause of
inflation, pay increases would have to be dramatically curtailed.
‘Wilson’s economic arguments, supplied by bourgeois
economists, were bogus. In reality the inflation of the 1970s was not caused by
wage increases, but by the colossal sums of speculative fictitious capital that
had been injected into the system as a result of decades of Keynesian deficit
financing. The propaganda about "excessive" wage rises causing
inflation was used as a pretext to boost profits at the expense of wages.
‘The Wilson government put forward a voluntary incomes
policy in co-operation with the TUC based on raises of 10 per cent. However,
Wilson warned that if this proved unworkable, a statutory limit would be imposed.
As was to be expected, the TUC readily acquiesced to the government’s wage
controls and published guidelines for voluntary restraint with a £6 limit on
all settlements prior to August 1976: "The £6 policy was accepted by the General Council at
its meeting in July but only narrowly, nineteen votes to thirteen"
recalls Jack Jones. "I urged those who opposed the policy not to push the
government to the point where it might fall … Whatever my misgivings I was
determined to back the government, "warts and all".
Although it meant a cut in real wages, the £6 limit was
agreed at both the TUC, on a resolution proposed by Jack Jones, and the Labour
Party Conference. When left-winger Ian Mikardo attacked the decision at the
Tribune meeting at Labour Conference, Jones shouted across the platform,
"I object to these attacks like this!" Hugh Scanlon also supported
Jack Jones’ stance. The Labour movement demonstrated tremendous loyalty to its
leaders, and the incomes policy of Wilson and Callaghan was taken on trust. The
Labour leaders demanded sacrifices to overcome "the legacy left by the
Tories" and, without any alternative being offered by the Lefts, this was
accepted as a necessary price to be paid for a Labour government.’
From
In The Cause Of Labour (Rob Sewell)
Chapter 22.
It is said that civil servants at the top
of the Labour government took to referring to Jack Jones as the Colossus Of
Roads because they were astonished at how he was able to, each day, hold back
the movement inside the unions against the restraints of the Labour government.
Although this retreat tended to colour his final years in office, Jones would
remain widely respected both inside the TGWU and amongst Labour and trade union
activists generally. Unlike his "Twin" Hugh Scanlon, he refused a seat in the
House of Lords and remained active, refusing to move away from his roots,
campaigning strongly for pensioners’ rights. Indeed, until quite recently he
was still to be seen on pensioners’ protests and at TGWU and Labour Party
conferences even though age was starting to catch up with him. Although he was
never as Left wing as some would have had him portrayed, he was nevertheless –
compared to some other trade union leaders who came after him – a giant of the
movement whose time in office reflected an important shift in the class
struggle. A fitting tribute to Jack Jones would be to ensure that once again
Britain’s main industrial union is led by those who are more interested in
fighting for better wages and conditions rather than fighting for more perks
and a chummy relationship with the government of the day.
Further Reading.
A number of trade union histories are
available to order from www.wellred.marxist.com
including the above mentioned book by Rob Sewell, published by Wellred, which
we would most certainly recommend and which is available at a special discount.
