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Foreword by Jack Jones
This
book tells the story of the education programme in the Transport and General
Workers Union, from its foundation in 1922 until the end of the twentieth
century. John Fisher describes the immense energy and activity associated
with the union’s education programme, and shows how it has contributed to
the union’s development over the years, especially in the sustenance it has
given to the TGWU’s strong shop steward tradition and to the union’s internal
democracy.
As one TGWU leader put it, ‘Money spent on education is always bread cast upon the waters. We can’t make a tidy balance sheet, as we can with other union benefits. What we can do is show confidence in our members, and have faith in their ability to make good use of the facilities offered them’. This book makes a convincing case for the lasting benefits of such trust.
Based on detailed archival and documentary research, Fisher charts the changes that have taken place in the union’s programmes over the years. Perhaps more than anything this is a story of activism, of the motivation of thousands of students and hundreds of tutors, often for little or no financial gain, who believed that education played a central role in developing themselves, the union and the labour movement as a whole. In telling their story, Fisher also evokes the exhilaration which all those involved in trade union education have experienced, when trade union members begin to understand their own organisation and develop the confidence to take part in it – and in the longer run, to extend their control over it.
‘Every T&G member should read this book.’ Tony Woodley
‘This book shows that education is not only about school, but about learning throughout life and using that learning to build and strengthen trade union organisation and influence. It is indeed a practical demonstration of the value of trade unionism to working people and the wider community.’ Jack Jones
‘Over the years we have all read many histories of the TGWU. In John Fisher’s book, for the first time, we learn of the key role that trade union education played in helping to build our union into a major force in the country. I recommend it to all who are interested in education and trade unions.’ Ron Todd
‘This is a great story of how of how working men and women used education to build a trade union to fight for their rights.’ Frances O’Grady
John Fisher is Director of the Education and International Department of the TGWU.