Peter Shorrocks
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Peter Shorrocks (8 April 1834 – 9 January 1886) was an early
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
leader. Born in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, Shorrocks attended the
Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...
Blue Coat School before following his father into the
tailoring A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
trade. Influenced by
Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of ...
in his youth, Shorrocks was always involved in trade union activity, and in 1860 he joined the recently founded Manchester Society of Journeymen Tailors. The society suffered from low membership and a lack of funds; Shorrocks was elected as its secretary in 1863, and attempted to increase its activity.Barbara Nield and John Saville, "Shorrocks, Peter (1834-86)", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.VI, pp.242-245 In 1865, the Manchester Society tried to negotiate an agreed price list with employers, but faced hostility and was unable to reach agreement. Shorrocks organised a strike which quickly achieved most of the union's aims. Enthused by this, he called a national conference of local tailors' societies, held in Manchester in March 1866. The conference attracted a large number of delegates from around the UK, and the large majority formed the Amalgamated Society of Journeymen Tailors (ASJT), with Shorrocks as General Secretary. Shorrocks also negotiated an agreement to work in co-ordination with the rival London Operative Tailors' Association. He led the ASJT through a
lock-out A lockout is a strike action, work stoppage or denial of employment initiated by the management of a company during a labor dispute. In contrast to a strike action, strike, in which employees refuse to work, a lockout is initiated by employers or ...
in Manchester in 1868, during which he was charged with conspiracy under the Combination of Workmen Act 1859, but was found not guilty. In 1866, Shorrocks was a founder of the
Manchester and Salford Trades Council The Manchester Trades Union Council brings together trade union branches in Manchester in England. History Efforts to bring trade unionists together across Manchester go back to the eighteenth century. In 1818 the cotton spinners persuaded oth ...
(MSTC), and he supported W. H. Wood in calling the first
Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
(TUC), held in Manchester in 1868. He acted as the secretary of this first congress, also playing a prominent role in the 1869 congress, after which he was elected to the committee organised to put together a public statement of the TUC's resolutions. He attended most congresses until 1881, and served on the Parliamentary Committee of the TUC in 1873, the Standing Orders Committee from 1877 to 1879 and in 1881, and as vice-president in 1880. During the late 1860s, Shorrocks was a supporter of the
International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...
, and was prominent in its Manchester and Salford branches, although neither existed long. He subsequently became associated with more mainstream Liberal-Labour positions. Shorrocks was elected as secretary of the MSTC in 1877, serving until 1883, by which point he was in poor health. Despite this, he remained secretary of the ASJT until his death, early in 1886. One of his daughters later married T. A. Flynn, who served as General Secretary of the Tailors in the early 20th-century.Anne J. Kershen, ''Uniting the Tailors''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shorrocks, Peter 1834 births 1886 deaths British trade union leaders Members of the International Workingmen's Association Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress Trade unionists from Manchester