Trade unionism and sectarianism among Derry shirt workers 1920-1968:udwith special reference to the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers

摘要

The problem at the heart of this study is: to what extent and inudwhat ways was the development of trade unionism in the Derry shirtudindustry influenced by sectarianism? This problem and my approach toudit were elaborated in contradistinction to existing theories of tradeudunionism in Northern Ireland. According to the main theory,uddeveloped most cogently within traditional Irish Marxism, tradeudunionism was thwarted by sectarianism. I suggest that this theoryudhas more to do with the reductionist and evolutionist assumptions ofudits authors than with social reality and argue that the relationshipudbetween trade unionism and sectarianism is better understood with anudapproach in which it is recognised that both of these institutionsudare constituted through the actions of concrete individuals who areudthemselves constituted by society, and in which priority is given toudthe meanings which individuals ascribe to their actions andudpredicaments. My study is based on interviews with a sample ofudretired union officials and activists.udMy respondents were keenly aware of the Catholic-Protestantuddichotomy, but, contrary to what traditional Irish Marxists wouldudlead one to expect, they did not regard sectarianism as a significantudproblem until the 1950s. My analysis of union growth and structureud1920-1952 largely confirmed this view: union densities comparedudfavourably with clothing workers in Britain, and the main factorsudunderlying fluctuations in membership were more or less the same asudelsewhere in Britain. Conflict between Protestant and Catholicudshirtmakers only became a problem as a result of inter-union rivalryudwhich followed the formation of a breakaway union in 1952. Sectarianudconflict was activated by a specifically trade union power struggle,udnot vice versa, Thus, this study does not merely contradict theudprevailing view of the relationship between trade unionism andudsectarianism - it inverts it.