The Trade Boards Acts provide for the appointment of joint bodies, consisting of an equal number of employers' and work- ers' representatives, together with a minority, usually three or five, independent members known as appointed members. In trades in which women are employed one of the appointed members is a woman. The members of trade boards are all appointed by the Minister of Labour (originally the president of the Board of Trade), who, in the appointment of the employ- ers' and workers' representatives, is bound to consult the organ- izations on each side respectively. The appointed members are impartial persons of standing nominated by the minister. The procedure of the boards is regulated by statutory regula- tions made by the Minister of Labour. Such regulations usu- ally make provisions for a method of voting, and the regu- lar reconstitution of the board; in all cases it is provided that no new appointment shall be made to the board by the minister until the board has had an opportunity of being heard. The boards are provided with secretarial assistance by the Ministry of Labour. They have power to form district committees for such areas as they may consider to be necessary, the members of which, like the members of the boards themselves, are ap- pointed by the Ministry of Labour.
The boards are compelled, unless the Minister of Labour relieves them of the duty, to fix a general minimum time-rate for the workers engaged in the trades concerned. A trade board must also in certain cases fix special minimum piece-rates on the application of an em- ployer. A board has power also, if it so desires, to fix general mini- mum piece-rates, guaranteed minimum time-rates, overtime-rates, rates for special classes of workers, rates for special areas, rates for special processes, rates for any class of work in any special process or in any special area and piece-work basis time-rates. Rates may be fixed so as to come into operation successively on the expiration of specified periods, or to be valid during a specified period. For the purposes of fixing overtime-rates a trade board may declare what are the normal number of hours in the trade during which ordinary rates of wages are payable, but they have no power to limit the number of hours worked.
In fixing a minimum rate so as to apply to any; class of workers in a trade, a board may attach to the fixing of the minimum rate a condi- tion that workers who are members of a class must be holders of a certificate from the trade board, or, if the persons are learners, such conditions as the trade board considers necessary for the instruction of these persons in the trade.
Decisions of trade boards come into obligatory operation by con- firming order of the Minister of Labour, and the determinations of trade boards have no force until so confirmed. A board's proposals must be published for two months, during which time employers or workers may lodge objections. On the expiration of the two months the board may proceed to fix the rates. If, in the light of objections, they wish to make substantial alterations, they must issue new proposals. The rates when fixed are sent to the Minister of Labour, who must forthwith take them into consideration and, except in special circumstances, either make an order within a month making the rates obligatory or refer them to the board for reconsideration. By this procedure all those engaged in the trade are fully informed as to the proposals, and are given full opportunity of making observa- tions on them, and, further, Parliament, through the Minister of Labour, can be assured that conditions harmful to the general interests of the community are not made binding by statutory rates. If district committees have been established, a trade board, before proposing rates, is compelled to give the district committee con- cerned an opportunity of being heard on the subject.
The Minister of Labour may at any time direct a trade board to reconsider rates of wages which may be in operation, although he has no power himself to fix rates of wages.
When rates of wages have been made operative they are enforced by inspectors appointed by the Ministry of Labour, and penalties for offences, such as non-payment of rates of wages, failure to post such rates, or keep records, are punishable by fine or imprisonment.
A trade board has power to exempt employers from the payment of minimum rates of wages in respect of workers who, through age or infirmity, are rendered incapable of earning the minimum time-rate, provided that the cases cannot suitably be met in the opinion of the board by employing the worker on piece-work.
Apart from the fixing of minimum rates of wages, the certification of learners and statutory and wage-fixing duties, the trade boards also act as joint consultative bodies for their trades, and have been so recognized by the Government for the purpose of advising them as to the training of disabled men, the training of apprentices, the settle- ment of disputes and other important matters.
In Sept. 1921 a Committee of Inquiry into the working of the Trade Boards (which was being severely criticized in various quarters) was appointed by the Ministry of Labour, under the chairmanship of Viscount Cave.
(H. WF.)
TRADE UNIONS (see 27.140*). The history of Trade Unionism in the United Kingdom and in the United States, during 1911-21, is dealt with in detail, in separate sections, below; and in
the various articles under country headings information regard-
ing foreign countries will be found. The industrial unrest of the
years immediately preceding the World War was not by "any
means confined to Great Britain, and in the chief industrial
countries notable developments took place in the growth of trade
unionism. Trade unions in such countries as France, Germany,
Belgium and Austria, where the movement was of comparatively
early growth, received large accessions of membership, and
trade unions arose in other countries where any form of labour
association had been hitherto unknown. Even before the war,
however, there were certain notable exceptions. In Russia and
Japan, for example, every form of trade union was illegal, and
persons participating in trade union organizations did so at
the risk of death or imprisonment. Trade unions, therefore,
in those countries, either were secret associations working
underground, or masqueraded under the guise of friendly
societies or other bodies of a similar character. The war had
many diverse effects on the various trade union movements.
In the Central European countries the privations of the last two
years of the war were reflected in a great falling-off in trade union
membership. In Germany this was more than compensated for
by the reliance of the Republican governments which followed
the Armistice upon the help of the trade unions. This brought
to the trade unions a great number of new members, with the
result that in 1920 the German trade union movement was
actually the largest in the world. In Hungary, on the other hand,
the " White " government of the regent Horthy, which suc-
ceeded the short-lived Soviet republic of 1919, put down Trade
Unionism with the utmost severity, some 70% of the leaders
being executed. In the new States created by the Treaty of
Versailles, trade unionism was in 1921 generally weak, owing to
the existence of strong nationalist movements which absorbed
the energies of the population; but in some, such as Czecho-
slovakia, having a large industrial element, there was a trade
union movement of some size. In Russia, on the other hand,
the trade unions were an integral part of the Soviet Government,
and hence the inducement to the average workman to become a
trade unionist was greater than in any other country.
International Trade Union Associations. The chief inter- national trade union body is the International Federation of Trade Unions, to which most of the chief national trade union bodies are affiliated. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, and in 1921 it had a membership of just under 24 millions. There was an International Federation of Trade Unions in existence before the World War, to which 19 countries were affiliated, with a membership of about seven and a half millions. The structure of this Federation was extremely loose; its activities included the issue of statistics and reports, the passing of resolutions on social legislation, the promotion of unity within the national movements, and the arrangement of international appeals for funds; but as a whole it was of little importance. For instance, the British Trade Union Congress was not affiliated, Great Britain's representative on the International being the General Federation of Trade Unions. Its centre was at Berlin. During the war this Federation fell to pieces, and a new one, the present Federation was founded in 1919. Twenty-four countries were affiliated in 1921, the most important exception being the American Federation of Labor.
The structure of the International Federation of Trade Unions remains very loose. It endeavours to promote the interests of the affiliated bodies and of trade unionism in countries not affiliated, to prevent international blacklegging, to provide funds for purposes laid down in the rules and to promote combined action on questions of trade union interest. In 1920 the Federation attempted, in pursuit of the last object, to carry out a blockade of the White Government in Hungary by international action, but the blockade was unsuccessful. The Federation makes no attempt to interfere with the policy or organization of its affiliated membership. In contrast, the International Council
- These figures indicate the volume and page number of the previous article.
