Working men's club
A working men's club is an association of members of the working class primarily in Great Britain , occasionally also in Australia and Ireland . They serve their members, their relatives and guests for leisure activities and education. The working men's clubs mainly emerged in the 19th century and have continued to exist in greatly reduced numbers to this day.
history
In the first half of the 19th century, based in London, numerous gentlemen's clubs had formed. These were reserved for members of the upper and upper middle classes. In the 1850s, several representatives of this club movement formulated the idea of creating facilities for the working class along the lines of gentlemen's clubs. The main goals were to limit the consumption of alcohol and gambling, as well as the moral development and intellectual education of club visitors. In this respect they were comparable to the workers' education associations in German-speaking countries.
Since about 1840 there have been several attempts, mostly organized by the clergy, the wealthy bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, to establish clubs for the working class, often referred to as lycees or “working men's institutions”. At the same time, reading and discussion groups, sports activities, art halls and other facilities with similar objectives developed. However, these early clubs mostly remained meeting places that were only used for certain events and lectures and had no fixed opening times. Most of the early startups were short lived. It was increasingly recognized that pure educational offers are not attractive enough for workers. In the late 1850s, start-ups began to pay more attention to entertainment.
A staunch advocate of this idea was the Unitarian preacher Henry Solly . From around 1950 he began to raise money for an umbrella organization of the already established workers' clubs. He won Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux , British Lord Chancellor from 1830 to 1834 as an important supporter . Brougham chaired the founding meeting of the Club and Institutes Union (CIU) on June 14, 1862 in London and was elected its first chairman. A few weeks later, Solly took over the function of secretary of the organization, which he held until 1867. In the first few years, the CIU was less concerned with the establishment of new clubs, but primarily with promoting the idea within the upper class.
A number of club foundations followed, often paternalistic driven by gentry and clergy, in individual cases also on the initiative of workers or craftsmen. From the beginning the club movement was accompanied by the debate about this paternalism and the level of self-government by workers. The downfall of some early clubs was directly caused by the fact that workers refused to allow themselves to be patronized by the founders of higher social standing.
One year after its founding, the CIU had 22 member clubs with a total of around 4,700 members. In 1867, after lengthy discussions, the CIU left the individual clubs free to serve alcohol or to prohibit it in their rooms. Most clubs chose to serve alcohol, which accelerated membership growth. The income from the bar gave the clubs growing economic importance in the years that followed and made them more independent of donations from supporting members from the upper class. Increasingly, the club was founded by workers themselves. At the same time, many clubs had formed accompanying organizations, including support groups, savings and credit groups and coal purchasing groups. In addition, a political differentiation began, particularly with regard to the proximity of the clubs to the trade union movement. Clubs that supported the demands of the labor movement were labeled "radical". However, numerous clubs of this orientation initially stayed outside the CIU. There were also representatives of the club movement who expressly distinguished themselves from the labor movement.
In 1872 the CIU had 245 member clubs. In addition, the clubs represented an increasingly important economic factor due to their bar operations. At the same time, working hours fell in many companies in the 1870s, which means that the members spent more time in the clubs. In 1869 the first working men's club in Australia was mentioned. It was during this period that workers' clubs based on the British model were founded in France. In 1875 the CIU established the practice of granting members of clubs nationwide access to other clubs, even if this right was initially restricted by many individual clubs. In the same year, the state registration of the clubs was approved, which gave them far-reaching legal powers. In 1890, wives, fiancés and daughters of members were granted access by the CIU after some clubs had already determined this individually. In 1881 the CIU launched the “Club Journal” as the movement's journal, which is still in existence today.
In 1884, after several years of debate, the general assembly of the CIU decided to set up a council as the highest body after the general assembly, which was formed from elected delegates from all clubs with at least 50 members and met monthly. This represented a fundamental reform of the club movement, because it practically eliminated the upper class as a power factor and put the CIU on a democratic basis. Even during the debate about the democratization of the working men's clubs and increasingly after 1884, more and more radical clubs joined the CIU.
From the mid-1880s, discussions about political activities grew. While radical clubs called for it and took part in labor rallies, other clubs opposed it. In this context there were attempts by the radical clubs to split off, but they did not last. It was also during this period that a connection with the emerging cooperative movement became the much-discussed topic of the working men's clubs. Initially, however, there were individual initiatives in this direction. It was not until after the First World War that a larger cooperative project was implemented with the CIU brewery in Gateshead . In 1889 the CIU stipulated that only clubs could become members of the association. Supporting individual members were thus finally ousted from the association.
The 1890s were marked by an increased expansion of the club movement in the province and the entry of already existing associations into the CIU. The previously controversial representation of the rural clubs in the organs of the association was also regulated in a binding manner during this period. The last few years of the 19th century saw a decline in political activity in clubs. This development continued in the following decades. Educational opportunities also became rarer in the course of the 20th century, while leisure time activities became more and more important.
When women were banned from playing snooker at the Wakefield City Workingmen's Club in 1978, a nationwide campaign was developed to give women the same access and membership rights to all working men's clubs as men. The Club and Institutes Union rejected such resolutions several times, while at the same time more and more clubs individually granted women further rights up to full membership. In 2007, the umbrella organization finally agreed to equal membership for women.
At the end of the 20th century there was a crisis in the working men's clubs. Among other things, the competition from men's sheds (with a focus on health care and voluntary social projects) and hackerspaces from Australia and New Zealand is responsible for this. Both overlap with the offers made by the working men's clubs, especially in the second half of the 20th century, but are more specialized and have a more modern image. While around 4,000 clubs were still counted in the 1970s, the number fell to around 2,000 by 2013. Today (2019) the umbrella organization CIU states the number of its member clubs as more than 1,600.
The CIU brewery, which produced various types of ale and lager under the Federation brand, was sold to Scottish & Newcastle in 2004 for £ 16.2 million . To this day, CIU clubs receive a price reduction on the beer built there, which is also reflected in reduced prices in the bar.
Organization and structure
The working men's clubs have focused on Northern England , the Midlands , Scotland and parts of the South Wales Valleys . Some clubs existed in Australia and Ireland , particularly in Dublin and the surrounding area.
The clubs are run by voluntary, non-profit organizations. Its members elect a committee, usually with a term of one year, to manage the business of the Working men's club. The committee also has disciplinary powers vis-à-vis the members. They will be warned in the event of wrongdoing and can be temporarily excluded from using the club in the event of repetition. Women are now allowed in practically all clubs, in many also membership in the supporting organization. Family members of the members are usually also allowed to use it. Other non-members are only admitted at the invitation of a member.
A working men's club consists of at least one taproom, which is known as a “vault”, especially in northern England. This is usually designed as a bar and, in addition to the counter, has tables for various types of billiards , as well as television sets that are used in particular for sports broadcasts. Many clubs also offer food.
In many cases there is also a larger room equipped with a stage, tables and chairs, stools and upholstered furniture. Evening and weekend events such as concerts, cabaret and games such as bingo and raffle (a raffle-like dice game) take place there.
Club and Institute Union
The Club and Institutes Union (CIU), founded in 1862, is still the national umbrella organization for working men's clubs in Great Britain. Almost all clubs are organized in the CIU. Membership gives members of all CIU clubs access to all other clubs in the association. In addition to lobbying, the CIU also acts as a purchasing community for the member clubs .
swell
- Official website of the CIU
- Laurence Marlow: The working men's club movement, 1862-1912: A study of the evolution of a working class institution. Dissertation, University of Warwick, Center for the study of social history, 1980. Download version