Munitions of War Act 1915

The Munitions of War Act 1915 was a British Act of Parliament promulgated during the First World War which brought private companies supplying the armed forces under the tight control of the newly created Ministry of Munitions, regulating wages, hours and employment conditions. It was a penal offence for a worker to leave his current job at such a "Controlled Establishment" without the consent of his employer, which in practice was "almost impossible" to obtain.[1] The Clyde Workers' Committee was established to oppose the Act.

The Munitions Act followed the Shell Crisis of 1915 when supplies of material to the front became a political issue.

The Act forbade strikes and lockouts and replaced them with compulsory arbitration. It set up a system of controlling war industries. It established munitions tribunals that were special courts to enforce good working practices.[2] It suspended, for the duration, restrictive practices by trade unions. It limited labor mobility between jobs. The courts ruled the definition of munitions to be broad enough to include textile workers and dock workers. The law was repealed in 1919, but similar legislation took effect during the Second World War. [3]

In 1919, as promised in 1915, the main features of the law were abolished regarding manning arrangements, closed shop agreements, restriction of overtime and apprenticeship rules.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ On Her Their Lives Depend: Munitions Workers in the Great War by Angela Woollacott
  2. ↑ G. R. Rubin, "The Origins of Industrial Tribunals: Munitions Tribunals during the First World War, The." Industrial Law Journal 6 (1977): 149.
  3. ↑ F. M. Leventhal, ed. Twentieth-Century Britain: An Encyclopedia (1995) p 78–80.
  4. ↑ Gerry R. Rubin, "Law as a bargaining weapon: British labour and the Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919". Historical Journal 32#4 (1989): 925–945. in JSTOR

Further reading

External links


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