ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the suppositions with reference to the workplace organization and industrial policies of what the Webbs regarded as the model for 'old-style' trade unionism – the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE). Much of the difficulty in specifying what the New Unionism actually is arises from the fact that there has been a tendency to define it in terms of a contrast to earlier forms of trade unionism. The circumstances surrounding the very inception of the ASE during 1850–1 cast most obvious doubt on the traditionally Webbian characterization of the Society as a 'successful' new-model trade union, with the capacity to implement a centralized and uniform trade policy for skilled workers in the engineering industry. The chapter argues that the eight-hour limit would increase the demand for labour and reduce the number of unemployed at a time of renewed labour-saving investment in the industry.
