IN 1917, as the first world war raged on, JT Murphy of the Sheffield Workers’ Committee wrote a passionate pamphlet calling for radical change in the trade union movement. More than a century later, his searing manifesto remains powerfully relevant. 

At the heart of Murphy’s vision was the need for genuine power and democracy for ordinary union members. He saw that while officials spoke about representing workers, it often felt like real control lay in the hands of distant bureaucracies. 

The vital first step was therefore to empower the grassroots. “The initiative should be taken by the workers in the various districts,” Murphy wrote. “It is immaterial whether the first move is made through the local trade union committees, or in the workshops and then through the committee, so long as the stewards are elected in the workshops and not in the branches.”

Murphy proposed that in every workplace, trade union members should directly elect “shop stewards” to represent them. Crucially, these stewards would not just be “official representatives” but would be workers based in the same workplace, experiencing the same conditions. This connectedness would give them both unmatched legitimacy and a direct mandate from their colleagues to lead from the front on workplace issues.

The stewards in each workplace would then come together to form a joint “workshop committee.” When we look at the disputes that have taken place over the past three years — since Strike Map was founded — we can see how working across union is so important. In a typical school for examples there may be union members in the NEU, NASUWT, ASCL, NHT, Unison, Unite, GMB and maybe even more. Fourteen trade unions recognised by the NHS.

In an age of union decline it is important to question our current model. Do we follow Murphy’s example and place real control where it matters most: on the shopfloor? As trade unionists and as socialists we value democracy above all. There is, of course, a role for existing trade union officers. No-one denies the important role they play, but radically refashioning them into “larger, more powerful” organs genuinely reflecting workers’ voices may be the way to foster true democracy and accountability.

More than 100 years later, Murphy’s case for “rank-and-file control” has lost none of its force. This year alone there have been at least four rank-and-file conferences in Britain alone. There have also been moments of dissent and the rise of groups such as Educators Say No based on the model of NHS Workers Say No. If anything, the gulf between the lives and views of officials and members has only widened. 

A 21st-century workers’ committee could apply Murphy’s blueprint for reinvigorating our unions from below. At a time when the government is using more and more authoritarian measures to attack our trade union rights, a strong union movement is needed more than ever. 

Of course, any project for radical change faces serious obstacles. And the bigger truth is that the true spirit of trade unionism lives on where it always did: in the initiative, courage and solidarity of ordinary workers, still fighting for dignity and control in their workplaces week after week and year after year. 

The rank and file are ready. Our role as trade union officials is not to stymy this but to facilitate it. Perhaps what they need most is confidence — confidence that, as Murphy put it: “The one mighty hope, the only hope, lies in the direction indicated, in a virile, thinking, courageous working class organised as a class to fight and win.”

Join us for the exciting launch of the Workers’ Committee JT Murphy pamphlet on December 7 2023 at 7pm at the People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester M3 3ER. Tickets are available  at bit.ly/JTMurphylaunch.