National Unemployed Workers' Movement

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The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed to draw attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the slump and later the Great Depression, and to fight the Means Test. From 1921 until 1929 it was called the National Unemployed Workers' Committee Movement. It suspended activity in 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, and the decision of wind it up was taken in 1943. It was finally dissolved in 1946.

The NUWM became the foremost body responsible for organising the unemployed on a national basis in the interwar period, these years being characterised by high levels of unemployment.

To the dismay of many within the wider labour movement, the Labour Party and the official trades union bodies offered little support to the legions of unemployed workers during this period. The Trades Union Congress and the National Executive Council advised Labour parties and trades councils along the route of the Jarrow Crusade not to help the marchers, although local branches were more generous.

The NUWM was founded by Wal Hannington, and led in Scotland by Harry McShane.

[edit] External links

• Why Are We Marching?