ABSTRACT
The lack of a Trade Union tradition, comparable with that prevalent in the mining, railway and cotton industries, is a serious obstacle in the way of the organisation of workers in the new industries. The haunting fear of losing employment, perhaps for good, combined with a natural conservatism, holds back the elderly who have not been nurtured in a Trade Union environment. It is not only by bringing contentment to the workers that high wages militate against Trade Unionism. In many new areas, where a large number of comparatively well-paid men are prevented by their employers from joining Trade Unions, the Labour vote has been rising steadily in recent elections. The problem of allowing adequate local autonomy to the branches while maintaining a strong and efficient central organisation in the Unions which include general workers is the most difficult which has to be faced.
