Tom Barker (activist)
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Tom Barker (3 June 1887 – 2 April 1970) was a New Zealand tram conductor, trade unionist, and socialist. He was born in
Crosthwaite Crosthwaite is a small village located in the Parish of Crosthwaite and Lyth, Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It is in the Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mount ...
,
Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...
, England. He was a leading member of the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
(IWW) and politician in New Zealand and Australia.


Early life

Barker was the eldest son of farm worker Thomas Grainger Barker and his wife Sarah, née Trotter. As a boy, he worked on the farm until the age of 11 years and then in a milking parlor until he was 14 years old. He then went to Liverpool and, in 1905, joined the British military, in a cavalry regiment. However, due to growing health problems with the strength of his heart, he was discharged soon from the army and worked in Liverpool on the rail-road. In 1909, he emigrated to New Zealand, and worked in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
as a conductor on the trams. He married Bertha Isaakovna, a Polish-born ballet dancer.


Politics


New Zealand

In New Zealand, he became an active trade unionist and secretary of the
New Zealand Socialist Party The New Zealand Socialist Party was founded in 1901, promoting the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The group, despite being relatively moderate when compared with many other socialists, met with little tangible success, but it neverth ...
. In 1913, he joined the IWW and brought a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
influence to the political orientation of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for a more socialist perspective. In 1913 he mobilized the IWW for the Auckland General Strike and was arrested for conspiracy in Wellington in 1913. He was released in 1914 by paying a bail to the amount of £1500.


Australia

At the beginning of 1914 he went to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and took the post of editor for the IWW magazine ''Direct Action''. There he championed the rights of colored workers and fought for equal wages for coloreds and for women. The
Australian Workers Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 members. Acc ...
(AWU) had refused to organize with coloreds, despite their solidarity with the AWU. He spoke out against the AWU's actions, stating: ''"The Class War is a nobler sentiment than the Race War, for it strives for the abolition of chains and not for their perpetuation."'' He also sought to unite feminists with labor movements, believing gender warfare to be a misguided ruse when women should be protesting alongside men in the streets. In 1915, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiracy and released after a public campaign in March 1916. After his arrest, Donald Grant publicly stated: "For every day that Tom Barker is in jail it will cost the capitalist class £10,000". In 1916, with enthusiasm for Australia's participation in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
spreading through the ruling government, opinion was still deeply divided and political life dominated by the debate on
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
, the anti-war movement "NO", and by political gridlock and the arrests of trade unionists accused as conspirators under Australian Prime Minister
Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...
, who founded the Nationalist Party. Barker protested and marched for twelve arrested trade unionists of the IWW, the so-called
Sydney Twelve The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the ''Crimes Act 1900'' (NSW) Treason-Felony. which incorporated the ''Treason Felony Act'' 1 ...
, which were charged with conspiracy. Many believed they were framed for their anti-war and anti-conscription views. The unionists were found to be in violation of the Unlawful Associations Act (1916), an initiative the Federal Parliament adopted in December 1916 under the Hughes cabinet, which considered certain IWW members to be involved in a conspiratorial organization. They were also charged with being involved in series of arson and a counterfeiting scheme. He led numerous organizations around the globe to protest these charges and petition the government to change its decision, although these efforts proved fruitless. Barker designed and published the famous Australian anti-war and anti-conspiracy poster stating: ''TO ARMS !! Capitalists, Parsons, Politicians, Landlords, Newspaper Editors, and Other Stay-at-Home Patriots. Your Country Needs You in the Trenches! Workers, Follow Your Masters!''. Another poster, also attributed to Barker and distributed, shows a crucified soldier on a cannon while "Mr. Fat" fills his glass with war profits. This poster caused his arrest and the imposing of a prison sentence.Sleeve notes from ''Andy Irvine - Way Out Yonder'', Andy Irvine AK-2, 2000. He was released in 1918 and deported from the country on the first ship that would take him - a ship bound for
Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
.


Abroad

In Chile and Argentina, he organized maritime workers unions into strikes for better conditions and wages. He began cooperating and working with Soviet ambassadors and liaisons, building rapport with the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The Soviets recruited him to aid in their
Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony The Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony was an experiment in workers' control in the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1926 during the New Economic Policy. It was based in Shcheglovsk, Kuzbass, Siberia. History Creation of the Autonomous Industrial ...
project in which they would experiment
Workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christi ...
. He enlisted technicians in the United States until 1926 to join the project. Later he worked for a Soviet oil company. From 1930 to 1931, Barker lived in Australia and then went to the United Kingdom, where he worked as an employee of an electric power company
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. As a member of the British Labour Party, he was elected a councillor on St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council. When he was later elected mayor, Barker reportedly raised a
red flag Red flag may refer to: Signs and warnings * Red flag (idiom), a literal or metaphorical warning * Red flag (American slavery), signal of an upcoming slave sale * Red flag warning, issued by the National Weather Service in the United States * ...
. He remained politically active until around the age of 70. Barker died in London, at the age of 83.


In popular culture

Barker is one of the six Australians whose war experiences are presented in ''
The War That Changed Us ''The War That Changed Us'' is a 4-episode Australian television documentary series presenting the true stories of six Australians in World War I. The series, produced by Electric Pictures, based on an original concept by historian Clare Wri ...
'', a four-part television documentary series about Australia's involvement in World War I. Barker became a popular figure internationally for working class movements. His name has been used on occasion in songs of the labor movement. In the song "Gladiators", which was sung by Andy Irvine on the album '' Way Out Yonder'', the life and political work of Barker is discussed in great detail.


Literature

*Eric Fry: "Barker, Tom (1887 - 1970)". ''Douglas Pike (Hrsg.): Australian Dictionary of Biography''. Volume 7: 1891 - 1939. A - Ch. Melbourne University Press, Carlton Victoria 1979, , S. 174–175.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Tom 1887 births 1970 deaths Industrial Workers of the World members New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand Socialist Party politicians English emigrants to New Zealand Labour Party (UK) councillors Mayors of places in Greater London Members of St Pancras Metropolitan Borough Council People deported from Australia