George Shipton

George Shipton (1839 - 1911) was a prominent British trade unionist.

Shipton worked as a builder and became involved in trade unionism. He also joined the Land and Labour League, where he became a strong supporter of George Odger. In 1872, he was elected as the General Secretary of the London Trades Council. In 1873, he became the first leader of the London Amalgamated Painters union, a post he held until 1889. [ [http://www.unionancestors.co.uk/Stonemasons.htm Operative Stone Masons Society ] at www.unionancestors.co.uk]

In 1878, Shipton travelled to Paris, leading the English delegation at an early international labour conference. In 1879, he stood as an independent Radical candidate in a by-election in Southwark.

The London Trades Council had broken links with "The Bee-Hive", their previous journal, in 1865, and it had ceased publication in 1878. In 1881, they resolved to establish their own newspaper, the "Labour Standard", and named Shipton as its editor. He initially ran with a series of lead articles by Friedrich Engels. He stood down in 1884, being replaced by William Bassett.

In 1885, Shipton was elected as the Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the post which later became the General Secretary.

In the late 1880s, Shipton opposed the New Unionism. Although the universal franchise was some years off, he claimed that "when the people were unenfranchised, were without votes, the only power left to them was the demonstration of numbers. Now, however, the workmen have votes." [http://www.dsp.org.au/links/back/issue25/Strauss.htm] In 1890, Tom Mann and Ben Tillett, proponents of the New Unionism wrote a document entitled "The "NEW" Trade Unionism: a reply to Mr George Shipton". [ [http://www.wcml.org.uk/people/tom_mann.htm Tom Mann Collection ] at www.wcml.org.uk] He was defeated for the Secretaryship of the Parliamentary Committee of the TUC, [ [http://www.marxists.org/archive/eleanor-marx/1890/liverpool-congress.htm The Liverpool Congress by Eleanor Marx 1890 ] at www.marxists.org] but remained the Secretary of the London Trades Council until 1896.

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