Mondays without Dread: The Trade Union Response to Byssinosis in the Lancashire Cotton Industry in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Bowden S.1; Tweedale G.2
Source: Social History of Medicine, Volume 16, Number 1, April 2003 , pp. 79-95(17)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
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Abstract:
Trade unions have often been criticized for their failure to address occupational health issues. This article explores their response to byssinosis—a chronic respiratory disease caused by exposure to cotton dust that was rife in the Lancashire cotton industry in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Using the archives of the cardroom and spinning unions, it is demonstrated that trade union efforts to combat byssinosis began before the First World War and were sustained for over 70 years. During that period, byssinosis became a recognized medical condition and a compensatable disease, due in no small measure to the trade unions campaigning tirelessly for better dust control, compensation for all affected workers, and more medical research.Keywords: byssinosis; cotton; trade unions; occupational health; compensation; respiratory disease; pneumoconiosis
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 4DT. E-mail:, Email: S.Bowden@Sheffield.ac.uk 2: Centre for Business History, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Aytoun Street, Manchester M1 3GH. E-mail:, Email: G.Tweedale@mmu.ac.uk
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