RAISING OUR BANNERS HIGH/AWARDS

I recently argued in a speech at the Marx Memorial Library that the art of banner making was in decline and trade unionists had grown uncertain what slogans and messages they should put on their banners. Yet once there had been certainty and the message was clear and could be shared across the movement. Moreover I am happy to point out that RMT, in the tradition of its predecessors the NUR and the NUS, is one of those unions where both the tradition of banner making is still alive and the message even more so. Many readers will have seen RMT banners and marched behind them. Some have even had to carry them in all weathers or stand with them on picket lines. But the hardest part of banner-making falls to those who have to argue and then decide what imagery should be used and what should be the main message inscribed on the front. Union banners reflect the march of history and very much describe the main aims of our movement. These can be seen in the excellent collection of rare banners in the People’s History Museum in Manchester. The first union banners were based on the traditions and cultural influences that helped shape early unions. In many of these influences, banners and processions played an important role. There were the Guilds, mainly involving craft workers, stretching back 500 years, when new members, usually apprentices, were sworn to an oath of allegiance under a banner bearing the crest of the trade. The banner was a near universal element, present amongst papermakers, coach- makers, stonemasons or blacksmiths. There would be important festivals and gatherings such as the procession of trades. In London, rope-makers guilds had first attended the Lord Mayor’s Jubilee of Trades in the 1500s. Unions went to great lengths to show that they had a long history as workers’ organisations. Many banners would reinforce this point by using slogans in Latin or Greek. Some would depict Greek gods, the builders of the pyramids of Egypt and even Jesus to emphasise their lineage. Although the banner may not have been that old, the idea of independent organisations of workers certainly was. Religion, especially Methodism, played an important part in spreading trade unionism. Early trade unionists were anxious to demonstrate that they too believed in universal values and a better life. The tradition of blessing a banner continues to this day and is a feature of the Tolpuddle union festival held in Dorset every year. Many trade unionists served in the military. Indeed, soldiers and sailors played an important role in the early struggle for working class democratic rights. Each regiment or ship would have its own colours and soldiers returning to civilian life found it natural to parade behind similar banners representing their union. It’s a little known fact that, when the unions marched to demand the return of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, they assembled behind banners arranged in the same battle order as at Waterloo when Napoleon was defeated. The message and seriousness of intent soon got through to the King who ordered the speedy return of the agricultural labourers. In the first half of the nineteenth century unions were illegal. So it was unusual to have banners made and few have survived for us to consider. Many trade unionists at this time were also members of other societies such as the Masons, guilds, churches and what were known as Corresponding RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2015 :: RMTnews 28 RAISING OUR BANNERS HIGH Phil Katz, designer of RMT histories Unity is Strength and the companion volume Pulling Together, looks at the importance of trade union banners