The Tolpuddle Martyrs and Labor Day
When I was in England in 2014 I took some time away from my family to visit the lovely (and under-sung) County of Dorset. (Think Thomas Hardy).
As Labor Day came and went I thought about the Tolpuddle men and the injustice that was served upon them.
I thought about the many other struggles by courageous workers to organise into Unions, and of the ways in which the unholy alliance between Big Business and Government sought (and often succeeded) to crush them.
I reflected on the ways in which Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and Ronald Reagan in the U.S.A. villainised Trades Unions until the very word "Union" became synonymous with "bad, evil, dangerous".
At the top of my list was to visit the little village of Tolpuddle. I was there to think about the 19th Century "Tolpuddle Martyrs".
My parents had told me the story.
In truth they were not martyrs, but good agricultural workers who combined together to protest their diminished wages They were "martyred" not for combining to form a prototypical Union, but because it was alleged that they had violated a law against secret oaths.
Their " martyrdom" was an unjust sentence of "Transportation to Australia". That sentence provoked a national outcry. Do read more here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs
I am so glad that my Mum and Dad revered the "Tolpuddle Martyrs" and that I was able to visit Tolpuddle back in 2014.
My parents had told me the story.
In truth they were not martyrs, but good agricultural workers who combined together to protest their diminished wages They were "martyred" not for combining to form a prototypical Union, but because it was alleged that they had violated a law against secret oaths.
Their " martyrdom" was an unjust sentence of "Transportation to Australia". That sentence provoked a national outcry. Do read more here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs
I am so glad that my Mum and Dad revered the "Tolpuddle Martyrs" and that I was able to visit Tolpuddle back in 2014.
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| Martyrs Museum. |
As Labor Day came and went I thought about the Tolpuddle men and the injustice that was served upon them.
I thought about the many other struggles by courageous workers to organise into Unions, and of the ways in which the unholy alliance between Big Business and Government sought (and often succeeded) to crush them.
I reflected on the ways in which Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and Ronald Reagan in the U.S.A. villainised Trades Unions until the very word "Union" became synonymous with "bad, evil, dangerous".
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