Tom Mann

Tom Mann (15 April 1856 - 13 March 1941) was a noted British trade unionist. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular public speaker in the labour movement.

Australia and Liverpool

In 1901, Mann emigrated to Australia to see if that country's broader electoral franchise would allow more "drastic modification of capitalism". Settling in Melbourne he was active in Australian trade unions and became an organiser for the Australian Labor Party. However, he grew disillusioned with the party, believing it was being corrupted by the nature of government and concerned only with winning elections. He felt that the federal Labour MPs were unable and unwilling to change society, and their prominence within the movement was stifling and over-shadowing organised labour. He resigned from the ALP and founded the Victoria Socialist Party.

Related Topics:
1901 - Australia - Melbourne - Australian Labor Party - Victoria Socialist Party

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Returning to Britain in 1910, Mann wrote The Way to Win, a pamphlet which argued that socialism could only be achieved through trade unionism and co-operation, and that parliamentary democracy was inherently corrupt. He founded the Industrial Syndicalist Education League, and worked as an organiser for Ben Tillett. He lead the Liverpool transport strike of 1911, after which he was convicted of sedition. His prison sentence was quashed after public pressure. He was opposed to Britain's involvement in the first World War on socialist and religious grounds and addressed pacifist rallies. In 1917, he joined the successor to the Social Democratic Federation, the British Socialist Party, which had affiliated to the Labour Party the previous year.

Related Topics:
1910 - Industrial Syndicalist Education League - Liverpool transport strike of 1911 - First World War - 1917 - Social Democratic Federation - British Socialist Party - Labour Party

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