election for the executive committee of
the important South Wales Mining Federation, indicates the tendency in
Great Britain at the present moment--when both coal and railway strikes
are threatened on a national scale--not merely towards industrial
unionism, but towards the far more important _union of industrial
unions_, which is really the underlying idea in the minds of most,
though not all, of the propagandists of "industrial unionism."

"I think it a very silly business," exclaimed Mr. Hartshorn
emphatically, "for the workers in different industries to be
proceeding with national movements independently of each other. A
short time ago we had a national stoppage on the railways; that, as
a matter of course, rendered the miners idle. Before that we had
something in the nature of a national stoppage in the case of the
seamen's dispute; that, also, in many districts paralysed the
mining industry and rendered idle the workmen. Now it appears
likely that the miners will be taking part in a national stoppage
which, in turn, will render the railway men and seamen idle.

"The idea is gradually dawning upon all sections of organized labor
that the right thing to do would be for these three unions, through
their executives, to establish a working alliance by means of which
united action should be taken to secure reforms which would result
in the raising of the standard of living of the whole of the
workmen employed in these undertakings. Of course the grievances in
different trades differ considerably in points of detail, but they
all have a common basis in that they relate to wages and conditions
of work. If the three organizations could be got to act together
with a view of establishing a guaranteed minimum wage for all
workmen employed, then not all the forces of the Crown, nor all the
powers of government, could prevent them from emancipating
themselves from their present deplorable position."[253]

It is equally necessary for the unions in order to obtain maximum
results that a special relation should be established between the
members of such trades as are to be found in more than one industry.
Teamsters, stationary engineers, machinists, and blacksmiths, for
example, whether employed by mines, railways, or otherwise, can aid one
another in obvious ways--as by securing positions for blacklisted men
an