"banner, Ipswich Dockers Union" [NBS I/D 249]

Catalogue Number
NBS I/D 249

Object Name
banner

Title
IPSWICH DOCKERS UNION UNITY IS STRENGTH

Place
Ipswich & Suffolk & England & UK

Date
c.1890-1910

Creator(s)
NBS National Museum of Labour HistoryNBS National Museum of Labour HistoryGeorge Tutill & Co. (Manufacturer)

Description
This banner was made for the Ipswich branch of the Dock, Wharf, Riverside & General Labourers' Union, formed after the Great Dock strike of 1889. At this time the British trade union movement was becoming much stronger as semi-skilled and unskilled workers swelled its ranks.This is often referred to as the New Unionism.

The painted image on this side of the banner shows how central trade with the countries of the British Empire were for the United Kingdom's economy. National emblems here show what those countries largely were: the industrious beaver for Canada, the kangaroo of Australia, the elephant of India, and the ostrich of South Africa. The banner's other side indicates that the union put a value on being conciliatory towards the employer, here top-hatted.

The banner was conserved in the museum's Textile Conservation studio at 103 Princess Street in 1992.

c.1890-1910

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