Abraham Lazarus

Abe Lazarus, 1934

Abraham "Abe" Lazarus (1911[1][2]–1967) was a British Communist activist. Lazarus contracted rheumatic fever during his childhood and this affected his education, because of his condition he was taught at home by his mother. His health recovered in 1928 so he got a job working as a professional driver and a mechanic, later on in 1930 he joined the Hammersmith branch of the Communist Party of Great Britain and became involved in the National Unemployed Workers' Movement. In 1933 he led a strike at the Firestone tyre factory and this earned him the nickname 'Bill Firestone'.[3][4] After the strike he became the South Midlands organiser for the Communist Party.

Personal life

Lazarus was Jewish by background.[5] He married Mabel Browning in 1937 and together they had one daughter. Mabel worked as a scientific assistant. Lazarus often took his family on holiday to France, but this ended in 1951 when he was deported and forbidden to return.[6] Earlier in February 1951 he had travelled to Czechoslovakia as a guest of the miners' union.

In 1953 he attended the 4th World Festival of Youth and Students in Bucharest as a reporter for World News and Views.

Pressed Steel strike

On Friday 13 July 1934, workers at the Pressed Steel plant in Oxford went on strike. Employees on the night shift in the press shop were paid short on their wages,[7] they stopped work and elected a deputation, consisting of four women and twelve men, to see management the next morning. The deputation was turned down. The following Monday, 100 night shift workers walked out and the deputation became a provisional strike committee. They approached the local Communist Party for support. At this time there were a number of communists in the factory, many with a history of industrial militancy in South Wales and elsewhere.[8] Communists advised the strike committee to include demands for higher pay, better conditions and trades union recognition. That night, the Communist Party printed 1,000 leaflets to try to extend the strike to other groups in the factory[9] and by Tuesday, 180 workers were on strike.[10] In recognition of the importance of the strike to this new strategy, the party sent Lazarus to Oxford to support the local branch.[11][12] He arrived on Tuesday night along with two full-time organisers from the Transport and General Workers Union.

On Thursday 19th, the Oxford & District Trades Council held a special meeting at which they voted to back the strike to "make Pressed Steel 100% union".[13] A 'council of action' was formed and two mass meetings were organised in St Giles. Lazarus addressed both meetings and drew large crowds, the first meeting on Friday had 1,000 people and the second on Sunday attracted over 3,000 people.

On Monday 23rd, the strike committee met with management for the first time. After two hours, they returned with a printed statement signed by Otto Müeller the managing director.[14] Lazarus translated it into more understandable English. There was no reference to wages and conditions and a refusal to recognise the union. The statement was unanimously rejected and a new set of demands was agreed by the strikers who by Wednesday numbered nearly 1,000.[15] The strike had also gained support within the local community. Over £100 was raised for the strike fund, a soup kitchen had been set up by Cowley Labour Party women, the Oxford branch of the NUWM collected food and money, and workers in Dagenham, Coventry and Birmingham refused to handle goods from the factory. A voucher system was also set up for the strikers with the support of Oxford Cooperative Society. By Saturday 28th the factory management had capitulated, and on Monday 30th the strikers returned to work with a guaranteed basic hourly rate, no victimization and full union recognition. 1,500 workers joined unions at the factory.

Florence Park

Activity in the factories of Cowley increased the profile of the Communist Party and led to involvement in non-industrial disputes. Oxford's population was growing rapidly as people were brought in to work at the car plant[16] and many of these people moved onto the recently built Florence Park estate. Lazarus was called upon when issues arose with the quality of their new homes. The estate had been established in 1934 on the land of George Allen who owned the Steam Plough factory nearby. He had been refused permission to extend the factory onto what was at the time boggy farmland but planning permission was given for Frederick Moss to build 600 houses there.[17] The houses were built in a hurry by unqualified labourers on muddy land, and this meant they were very poorly constructed. Tenants complained of unsanitary living conditions and commissioned an architect's report which upheld their grievances.[18] On hearing of the problems tenants were facing Lazarus made his way to the tenant manager’s office, he spoke to the residents and a large crowd formed. Lazarus suggested they retire to the Pembroke Hall, where a committee was organised and a large campaign was launched. Daily meetings were held, culminating in a march of 200 people on the Town Hall on 11 April.[19] In May the tenants held a rent strike which was defeated when 4 of the strikers were evicted for rent arrears. Nevertheless, the estate was later sold on to another owner who made some improvements, and the Florence Park tenants association survives to this day.

A similar campaign was waged on the Great Headley Estate of Headington in 1939.

Cutteslowe Walls

The major event of 1935 in which Lazarus took a leading role was the campaign against the Cutteslowe Walls. The walls had been built in December 1934 to separate the established homeowners of older, private homes from the residents of newly built social housing immediately adjacent. After having been advised by Stafford Cripps that the walls were illegal,[20] Lazarus organised a demonstration for 11 May to march on the wall and knock it down.[19] On the day a crowd of 2,000 people gathered at Wren road.[21] Lazarus and a companion then walked to one of the walls wielding pickaxes. They were blocked by a line of police officers who threatened to arrest them for assault if they went any further.[22] Defeated, Lazarus returned to the crowd and climbed up a tree to make a speech.[23][24] A long campaign ensued before the walls were finally taken down on 9 March 1959.

Elections contested

Lazarus stood multiple times as a communist in the Cowley & Iffley ward during the Oxford City Council elections. He was never elected, although he did gain a significant proportion of the votes.

Year Votes %
1936 1488[25] 23
1937 1536[26] 25
1945 2184[27] 15
1946 940[28] 9

On 8 June 1938 he was elected to the Oxford City Council ARP committee.

References

  1. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS.
  2. ↑ 1911 UK census
  3. ↑ Exell, Arthur (1979). "Morris Motors in the 1930s. Part II: Politics and Trade Unionism". History Workshop Journal 7 (1): 58. doi:10.1093/hwj/7.1.45.
  4. ↑ Cope, David. "British political pseudonyms". Left on the Shelf. p. 2.
  5. ↑ Renton, David (July 1996). Red shirts and Black: Fascists & Anti-fascists in Oxford in the 1930s. Ruskin College. p. 13. ISBN 0900183195. ISSN 0261-5649.
  6. ↑ Fryer, Peter (1 September 1951). "Communist on holiday is deported". Daily Worker.
  7. ↑ Walker, Michael (15 January 2008). "West Middlesex District Communist Party". Hayes People's History.
  8. ↑ Chandler, Andrew (1 March 2012). "‘You Can’t Stop Them Singing’: Welsh Experiences of Exodus and Exile in England, 1927-47".
  9. ↑ Lazarus, Abraham (September 1934). "The years of struggle". Communist Review.
  10. ↑ Saunders, Annabel; Peretz, Liz; Velluti, Dona; MacKeith, Bill (17 September 2004). The 1934 strike for union recognition at Pressed Steel: a victory for the people of Oxford. TGWU 5/624 Branch. p. 7.
  11. ↑ Richard, Whitting (1983). "the emergence of conflict at Pressed Steel". The view from Cowley: the impact of industrialisation upon Oxford 1918-1939. Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 0-19-821897-4.
  12. ↑ Richard, Whitting (1983). "Oxford and the national experience". The view from Cowley: the impact of industrialisation upon Oxford 1918-1939. Oxford University Press. p. 95. ISBN 0-19-821897-4.
  13. ↑ Saunders, Annabel; Peretz, Liz; Velluti, Dona; MacKeith, Bill (17 September 2004). The 1934 strike for union recognition at Pressed Steel: a victory for the people of Oxford. TGWU 5/624 Branch. p. 10.
  14. ↑ Edwards, Dudley (October 1979). How trade unionism came to Pressed Steel. London: Militant. p. 13. ISBN 0950491594.
  15. ↑ Tom Smith (25 July 1934). "Pressed Steel Works, Cowley (Dispute)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 1780.
  16. ↑ Fransham, Mark (February 2014). "Oxford’s population is growing at its fastest ever". Oxford City Council.
  17. ↑ Exell, Arthur (1979). "Morris Motors in the 1930s. Part II: Politics and Trade Unionism". History Workshop Journal 7 (1): 53–54. doi:10.1093/hwj/7.1.45.
  18. ↑ The Oxford rent and housing scandal: who is responsible?. Florence Park Tenant's Committee. 1935. pp. 2–5.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 A long climb beyond dreaming monuments. Oxford: Communist Party of Great Britain. 1939.
  20. ↑ Bowie, Duncan (1983). Radicalism, Socialism and Labourism in Oxford, 1890-1980. p. 233.
  21. ↑ Williams, Amanda (9 March 2009). "50th anniversary of 'snob walls' demolition". Oxford Times.
  22. ↑ Lisle, Nicola (9 March 2009). "And the walls came tumbling down". Oxford Times.
  23. ↑ Wynn, Arthur (August 1935). "Cutteslowe wall campaign". Communist Review: 146.
  24. ↑ Collison, Peter (1963). The Cutteslowe walls: a study in social class. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 61–62.
  25. ↑ Oxford Mail. 3 November 1936. p. 4.
  26. ↑ Oxford Mail. 2 November 1937. p. 5.
  27. ↑ Oxford Mail. 2 November 1945. p. 3.
  28. ↑ Oxford Mail. 2 November 1946. p. 3.