Ben Tillet (September 11, 1860 - January 27, 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. Tillett was born in Bristol and began his working life as a sailor, before travelling to London and taking up work as a docker. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Bristol (IPA: ) is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, 115 miles (185 km) west of London and located at With a population of 400,000, and metropolitan area of 550,000, it is Englands sixth, and the United Kingdoms ninth, most populous city... A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. ...

Trade Union Activities

He began his career as a trade union organiser in 1887 by forming the Tea Operatives and General Labourers Union at Tilbury docks. Tillett and his union, renamed the Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers' Union, rose to prominence during the London Dock Strike (1889), although the strike itself began without union involvement. Tillett also played a prominent role as a strike leader in dock strikes in 1911 and 1912. He was instrumental in forming the National Transport Workers' Federation in 1910, along with Havelock Wilson of the Seamen's Union. Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width. ... The Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Labourers Union (1889-1922) was a British trade union. ... The London Dock Strike is widely regarded as a major milestone in the development of the trade union movement, marking the transition from a movement restricted to skilled workers and their New Model Unions to one which embraced unskilled and casual workers such as dockers, seamen and general labourers. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The National Transport Workers Federation was an association of British trade unions. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Joseph Havelock Wilson (1858?-1929) was a trade union leader, Liberal politician, and campaigner for the rights of merchant seamen. ... The National Union of Seamen was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in Great Britain from 1888/1889 to 1990. ...

Tillett's union was the largest of the unions which came together in 1922 to form the Transport and General Workers' Union, however, it was Tillett's deputy, Ernest Bevin, rather than Tillett himself, who took the major role in bringing about the amalgamation. Bevin became the General Secretary of the new union, but Tillett remained involved and retained his seat on the General Council of the Trades Union Congress until 1932. The Transport and General Workers Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, is one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it is known as the Amalgamated TGWU - with 900,000 members (and was once the largest trade union in the... Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman, born in the small village of Winsford in Somerset, England. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... Image:TradeUnionsCongress20050108 CopyrightKaihsuTai. ...

Political career

Tillett was a member of the Fabian Society and a founding member of the Independent Labour Party, but subsequently joined the Social Democratic Federation instead. Tillett began a political career as an alderman on the London County Council from 1892 to 1898 and was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1917 to 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931 for Salford North. The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the British political party. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the main left-wing political party of the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Salford North was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

Tillett courted controversy with some of his supporters in the labour movement through his outspoken support of Britain's involvement in the First World War, an issue which split the Labour Party. In article in the July 3, 1915 issue of Illustrated London News G. K. Chesterton explained the reason this way: Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... G.K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (May 29, 1874–June 14, 1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. ...

It is the moderate Socialists who are Pacifists; the fighting Socialists are patriots. Mr. Ben Tillett would have been regarded by Mr. Ramsay Macdonald as a mere firebrand; but it is precisely because Mr. Tillet was ready to go on fighting Capitalism that he is ready to go on fighting Krupp. It is precisely because Mr. Macdonald was weak in his opposition to domestic tyrants, that he is weak in his opposition to foreign ones. The wobblers who wanted a one-sided arbitration to end the strikes would to-day accept a one-sided arbitration to end the battles. But the men who wanted strikes want nothing but shells. That great artist, Mr. Will Dyson, laid aside the lethal pencil with which he had caricatured the sweaters and the middlemen, and sharpened a yet deadlier one to draw all the devils in Prussia.

His autobiography Memories and Reflections was published in 1931. James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866–9 November 1937) was a British politician and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... William (Will) Henry Dyson was born at Alfredton, near Ballarat, in September 1880, the son of George Dyson, a mining engineer, and brother of Edward Dyson (q. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ...

Further reading

• Jonathan Schneer, Ben Tillett: Portrait of a Labour Leader, (Croom Helm, 1982)