Jute workers
Jute is a plant which can, once converted into a weavable fibre, be made into a cheap, tough fabric used to produce packaging materials such as sacks and bags. During the 19th century the jute industry had two main centres - Bengal, where the raw materials were grown, and Dundee ('Juteopolis'), where the fibres were woven into cloth and made up into finished products. The Jute Trade Board was set up in 1919 in an attempt to combat the low wages and poor living conditions for workers in industrial Dundee. By this date the city had lost its virtual monopoly on production and the jute industry was in decline.
The series of trade board papers in the Trades Union Congress archive includes five files of documentsLink opens in a new window relating to the Jute Trade Board. As part of the Modern Records Centre's 'Sweated trades' digitisation project, we have made a selection of these documentsLink opens in a new window available online, including the items highlighted below.
Illustration: Combined automatic spreader and hackling machine. Image included in H.R. Carter, 'Jute and its manufacture'Link opens in a new window (John Bale, Sons & Danielsson Ltd., 1921).
Working conditions and pay:
General wages and working conditions:
Want to know how much a worker in the jute industry earned? This statistical data, based on information from Trade Board notices, summarises the weekly and yearly wages of someone on the minimum wage in the early 1920s.
General minimum time-rates fixed for male and female workers, 1920Link opens in a new window
Summary of the Trade Board rates.
Summary of the Trade Board rates.
Summary of the Trade Board rates.
Report from the Hessian Weavers Piece-Rates Committee, 1922Link opens in a new window
Short report on the scope of the piece rates and proposed changes.
Report from the One Thread in a Split Committee, 1922Link opens in a new window
Short report on relative earnings on cloth woven one thread in a split.
Proposals to fix rates of wages for female weavers, 1922:
In the areas of Dundee, Carnoustie and TayportLink opens in a new window
Summary of the Trade Board rates.
Summary of the Trade Board rates.
The report includes statistical data relating to the ages, experience and earnings of workers employed by 20 firms.
Objections to rates of pay:
Each change to the recommended minimum wage was publicised by the issuing of printed notices by the Trade Board. Individuals and organisations then had a set period of time during which they could submit formal written objections to the proposed changes. Inevitably, when wage rates increased most objections were sent in by employers; when rates were reduced most objections were sent by trade unions or workers.
Objections to proposed reduction in minimum wage rates, 1921Link opens in a new window
50 objections, including letters from named jute workers and employers.
Objections to proposed alteration to minimum wage rates, 1921Link opens in a new window
Objections from: Hardie & Smith Ltd., Dundee; Forfar & Kirriemuir Manufacturers Association; James Smieton & Sons, Carnoustie; Jeanie Spence, Dundee (hessian weaver?); and Bank Mills Spinning Co., Dundee.
Objections to proposed alteration to minimum wage rates, 1923Link opens in a new window
Objections from: J.F. Sime, Dundee and District Union of Jute and Flax Workers; and J. Smieton & Sons, Carnoustie.
Objections to proposed alteration to minimum wage rates, 1924Link opens in a new window
Objections from: J.F. Sime, Dundee and District Union of Jute and Flax Workers; 9 named employees of W. Halley & Sons, Ltd., Dundee; a section of weavers at the Camperdown Jute Works, Lochee; and Helen Easson, weaver, Lochee.
Objections from: Gilroy Sons & Co. Ltd., Dundee; J.H.F. Henderson Ltd., Dundee; Caird (Dundee) Ltd.; J.C Duffus & Nephew Ltd., Dundee; Aberdeen Jute Company Ltd.; and 45 named firms in Dundee and district.
Objection to proposed increase in rates of wages, 1925Link opens in a new window
Objection from: John Sharp & Sons, Ltd., Dundee.
Objections to proposed increase in rates of wages, 1925Link opens in a new window
39 objections, mostly from Dundee and district employers.
Objection to proposed increase in rates of wages, 1925Link opens in a new window
Objection from: David Smith & Sons, Ltd., Alyth.
Objections to proposed increase in rates of wages, 1925Link opens in a new window
Objections from: the Association of Jute Spinners and Manufacturers; and the Aberdeen Jute Company Ltd.
Objections to proposed reduction in minimum wage rates, 1926Link opens in a new window
Objections from: John C. Hendry, Brechin, Chairman of Workers' Side; Alexander Beaton, Dundee and District Mill and Factory Operatives Union; James Taylor, Forfar Factory Workers' Union; and J.F. Sime, Dundee and District Union of Jute and Flax Workers.
Scope of the Trade Board:
Not all workers in Trade Board regulated industries were eligible for the minimum wage, employees who were regarded as doing peripheral jobs (such as messenger, delivery driver, etc.) could be excluded. In some cases the Trade Board was required to rule on 'questions of scope' - whether the work of certain employees came within the scope of the Board (and the minimum wage). Submissions to the Board on questions of scope can include information about manufacturing processes and types of work done by individual employees.
Question of scope: Hart & Son of Crewkerne, Somerset, 1923Link opens in a new window
The firm manufactured webbing from flax, hemp, jute, cotton and worsted, for furniture, saddlery, motor bodies and other products.
The Kirkcaldy firm manufactured floor cloth and linoleum and employed workers to weave canvas from jute.
Question of scope: spinning shifting mistresses, 1925Link opens in a new window
Question relating to the appropriate pay for women whose main responsibilities were "to see that the spinning frames supervised by her are adequately supplied with bobbins and that the bobbins are shifted at the proper time".
The position of packers under the Jute Trade Board, 1925Link opens in a new window
Memorandum submitted by John C. Hendry, on behalf of the Workers' Side of the Trade Board. It argues that packers should come within the scope of the Trade Board and so be able to claim the minimum wage. Some background information about the jute industry and the work of the packers is also included. A response to this proposalLink opens in a new window from C.W. Walker of Jute Industries Ltd., Dundee, is also available.
Question of scope and interpretation: beaming, 1927Link opens in a new window
Question relating to the case of a firm engaged in the manufacture of carpets from flax and jute, and whether they come within the scope of the Trade Board.
Unemployment and state of trade:
Statement to be submitted to the Cave Committee, [1921?]Link opens in a new window
Evidence submitted by John C. Hendry, Secretary of the Scottish Council of Textile Trade Unions, Chairman of the Workers’ side of the Flax and Hemp Trade Board (Great Britain) and a member of the Jute Trade Board. He includes information about arguments around the establishment of trade boards in the jute and flax industries, pre-Board wage rates, and charges that the minimum wage was causing unemployment.
Summaries of the evidence of J. Cunningham, Secretary of the Calender Workers' UnionLink opens in a new window, and Councillor T. LowdenLink opens in a new window are also available. Cunningham's evidence includes biographical information about his experience in the jute trade.
'Trade Boards. Socialistic interference with industry', 1921Link opens in a new window
Article by the Political Correspondence of the Morning Post newspaper. It uses the example of the jute and flax boards to criticise the Trade Board system for interfering with the employers' ability to reduce wage rates quickly in response to changing trade conditions.
Report from Learnership and Apprenticeship Committee, 1921Link opens in a new window
Short report relating to co-operation with Juvenile Employment Committees and prospects for employment.
'Discharge of boys from jute mills', 1924Link opens in a new window
Copy letter from representatives of the Dundee Advisory Committee for Juvenile Employment relating to the routine dismissal of boys as soon as they reached the age of 18 (and became eligible for higher rates of pay) and their replacement with younger workers.
"Employment of Juveniles" Committee, 1924Link opens in a new window
Report of a Trade Board committee formed to suggest policies to improve the employment prospects of young men after the age of 18. Recommendations included the introduction of "male labour into weaving and spinning".
'Discharge of boys from jute mills', 1925Link opens in a new window
Copy letter from representatives of the Dundee Advisory Committee for Juvenile Employment, including reference to reduced opportunities for "intelligent young men" in India. Information about the Trade Board's recommendations to improve the situation are also included.
Statistical data providing information about the number of insured people in the jute industry who were recorded as unemployed on 25th May 1925. The statistics are divided into 'Dundee', 'Rest of Scotland' and 'England and Wales'.
Statistics regarding exports and imports of jute goods, 1925Link opens in a new window
The information was sent by John C. Hendry, Chairman of the Workers' Side, and covers the period between 1913-1924.
Exempted workers:
Trade Boards could issue permits of exemption which allowed employers to pay less than the minimum wage. Permits were given to workers who were regarded as having a physical or psychological disability which affected their work. Applications (usually submitted without employees' names) include information about the age, gender and medical conditions of the individual workers.
Statements of permits of exemption granted, 1921-1926Link opens in a new window
Summarised information about permits granted.
Summaries of applications for permits of exemption, 1924-1925Link opens in a new window
Summarised information about permits granted. These can be slightly more detailed than the statements mentioned above.
Numbers of workers with permits, arranged by name of company.
An index to these documentsLink opens in a new window is available.
Inspection and enforcement:
Summary report of legal proceedings against an employer accused of underpaying.