“14. That in order to render satisfactory to those concerned any future revision we urge the necessity of our being consulted before it assumes its final form.”
Early in the June following Mr. Raikes received a deputation of six, including the indispensable Williams and Clery, and the points were amicably discussed between them, a shorthand writer being present. The Postmaster-General gave every attention, and treated them as usual with consideration. And his kindliness of nature displayed itself on this occasion when spontaneously he made one very valuable concession on the spot. He had been reminded that members of the postal staffs had not yet enjoyed the privilege extended to telegraphists, that of being transferred to country and seaside offices when in ill health. “I should like that done,” said he, turning to the Controller. And this privilege was to be enjoyed from that moment for years to come. The business of the deputation having concluded, the Postmaster-General complimented them for having urged their case with great reason and moderation, and promised he would give every consideration to the matters laid before him; and that they might expect an answer at as early a date as possible. Besides the concession of temporary transfer to seaside offices in cases of ill health, which they had gained at the interview, Mr. Raikes had already a few days before granted full pay in sickness, and this was now made to extend to the whole of the London postal service. After this they had to curb their impatience for four months, for other happenings of more serious moment were directing Mr. Raikes’s attention elsewhere.
CHAPTER XVI
A REAWAKENING OF THE LETTER-CARRIERS—PETITIONS—DEGRADATION AND DISMISSAL OF THE LEADER—FORMATION OF THE POSTMEN’S UNION—MR. JOHN BURNS—A PLASTER-OF-PARIS CÆSAR—THE INTERVENTION OF W. E. CLERY—THE POSTMEN’S STRIKE.
For some years after the decline of the agitation of 1872-74 the letter-carriers were practically quiescent. There was a prolonged hiatus, not of contentment exactly, but of unvoiced discontent, a restless slumber, with but an occasional turning and a muttering in their sleep. It was not till 1887 that the letter-carriers again woke to the full realisation that they were being overburdened with an accumulation of old and new grievances, and that the time had come to prepare for another effort. There was the usual recrudescence of grumblings and a groping in the semi-darkness, the usual repetition of unrecorded back-stair and back-room meetings, some misunderstanding as to exactly what they wanted, and which way they should turn to get their grievances redressed. They had the disadvantage of being split up into a number of sections and classes, and there was the danger from the outset of their being disunited by internal jealousies. It is the man that makes the movement as much as the movement makes the man. There were a number of ready champions of the general cause, but when they came to take stock of the claims of each it was found there was only one man who could be followed with confidence. This was a young fellow named Dredge, known familiarly to most of the London letter-carriers as Tom Dredge. He was a good speaker, with a hearty, bluff manner, and he gave the idea of a fighter who could carry his point and would not flinch. Dredge set about organising the letter-carriers at his own office at the North-Western District Office, and gradually extended the sphere of his operations to the other districts. In this he was ably assisted by two or three fellow-postmen acting as delegates from their various centres. The first meeting of any importance, and the one which mainly decided their future action, was held at Tolmer’s Square Institute, Drummond Street, N.W., on July 23, 1887. Dredge was the central figure and the principal speaker; and from that night the agitation extended to the whole of the London district postmen, and embraced a considerable number of the suburban men. The first item on the programme of the new agitation, of course, was the preparation of a petition setting forth their claims. These were to include limitation of working day to eight hours, necessity of increased pay, extra duty to be paid for according to wages; the granting of boots for all postmen, and lighter clothing for summer wear; equality for all postmen in London; the resumption of the title of “letter-carrier” in lieu of “postman”; earlier maximum pay; a minimum of 18s. a week for all second-class postmen; the abolition of the collection and delivery of parcels by London postmen; and several other good things, including a better pension scheme.
The petition was presented, but nothing satisfactory came of it. There were more meetings, growing in indignation, and Tom Dredge became a power everywhere among the letter-carriers or, as they were now called, postmen. They secured the support of Mr. H. L. W. Lawson, M.P., and he presided over a meeting at Tolmer’s Square Institute, more than a thousand men of all grades being present. Besides this public countenance to the efforts of the letter-carriers, his influence on their behalf was exerted in the House of Commons on several occasions. One result of Mr. Lawson’s efforts in this direction was obtaining a departmental committee to examine the question of uniform, concerning which so many complaints were made. In many ways did the member for St. Pancras assist the letter-carriers in furtherance of their aims. The public holiday agitation, which dislocated the telegraph staff at the time, drew forth the interest of Mr. Lawson, and many were the communications between him and the Postmaster-General. But the holiday was not granted, nor was extra pay allowed.
Through him the letter-carriers presented a petition to Mr. Raikes, praying for a consideration of their case; and the Postmaster-General intimated that he would do all he possibly could, consistently with the interests of the public, to meet the wishes of the men. But just when it was thought that their sails had caught the fair breeze of public approval, and it was felt their barque was nearing a safe harbour, their vessel suddenly grounded on a rock. Tom Dredge, the secretary of the organisation of district and suburban letter-carriers, was pounced on for a dereliction of official duty, and punished with reduction in the ranks. The circumstances of the case seem to have been rather harsh, but being away on sick-leave at the time, it was not till his return to duty that he felt the full force of the official rebuff. The local postmaster informed Dredge that the Secretary had advised Dredge’s reduction, because he had taken a prominent part in the postmen’s agitation for increase of pay, &c. The Postmaster-General endorsed the recommendation that he be reduced to the second class of postmen, and instructed that he be warned that if he continued in the same way he would be dismissed. The specific charge brought against Dredge was that of writing to the press on official matters, and for purposes of promoting an agitation, in contravention of rule.
Mr. Raikes was charged with inconsistency and unnecessarily interfering with the right of combination among the postal servants; but the Postmaster-General defended his action, and maintained that he had dealt leniently in the circumstances. The reduction had been accompanied with a caution to abstain from such questionable methods of agitation for the future; but a few months later the secretary of the postmen’s organisation tempted fate still further, and the end came. A printed notice had been issued and signed by Dredge calling a mass meeting at the Memorial Hall, without the proper sanction of the Postmaster-General having been obtained, and in contravention of Rule 42 of the regulations. This meeting the Postmaster-General prohibited, but a few days afterwards, Dredge called a general meeting for the purpose of discussing matters of departmental control, including the action of the Postmaster-General. For this he was called on to explain as to why, after being emphatically cautioned, he had persistently endeavoured to stir up agitation. His explanation notwithstanding, Dredge was dismissed.