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About Tom Brown

Tom Brown, whose writings did much to revive interest in Syndicalism and Workers’ Control, was that rare phenomenon in the British libertarian movement, a theoretician whose ideas had been tested and developed by his own experience in the hard school of working-class struggle.

An able and persuasive public speaker, whether at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, at indoor meetings, or in the more intimate role of lecturer, he had the happy knack of relating what he said to the everyday experience of his audience. The same quality illuminated his writings which mirrored the life and times of this lifelong revolutionary and loyal comrade.

Born and raised within sight and sound of the Tyneside shipyards, Tom served his engineering apprenticeship there and was quickly drawn into militant industrial activity. Much of his working life was spent as an active shop steward and factory floor activist.

Like many others he was fired with enthusiasm by the Russian Revolution, was an early member of the Communist Party and, for a time, became its industrial organizer for the North East. But the double dealing of the Communist Party and the growing repression in Bolshevik Russia quickly brought disillusion and he left the party, though never his natural role as a shop floor militant.

Moving south during the Depression, he worked in the motor industry of the West Midlands and, around this time, was attracted by Anarchist and Syndicalist ideas. In the mid thirties he and his wife, Lily, found their way further south to London with their daughters Ruth and Grace.

The Spanish Revolution of 1936, with its takeover of industry and agriculture by the Anarcho-Syndicalist unions of the CNT in anti–fascist territory, especially in Catalonia, reinforced and developed Tom’s own ideas and he became a member of the grouping around the paper, Spain and the World, which was dedicated to supporting the Spanish workers. He spoke at meetings supporting their struggle, several times sharing their platform with Emma Goldman. His Syndicalist writings appeared for the first time in Revolt, which followed Spain and the World after the fascist victory in 1939.

During World War II, as a member of the Anarchist Federation of Britain (AFB), he wrote regularly for War Commentary for Anarchism and produced his first two pamphlets, Trade Unionism or Syndicalism and The British General Strike, both had wide sales.

He helped launch Direct Action in 1945 and continued his close association with it for well over 20 years.

He and Lily returned to Tyneside in the late 1960s where he made several lively contributions, on libertarian subjects, on local radio.

Tom Brown’s activities and writings have influenced and inspired many people.

Other Essays by Tom Brown

The British General Strike British Syndicalism, Pages of Labour History Lenin & Workers’ Control Nationalisation And The New Boss Class The Social General Strike Trade Unionism or Syndicalism? What’s Wrong With The Unions?

Editor’s Note: I noticed, at once, when I start to read this that it is written in the masculine gender, as one worker speaking to others. The reader should remember that this series of essays were written in 1943 when it was common to use the masculine gender to refer to persons of both genders. The evolution of gender neutral terminology and their common usage in written material, are a relatively recent linguistic development. The reader should also remember that, even during World War II, the number of women in the workforce was relatively small. The growth in the proportion of the work force made up of women largely occurred after World War II, with a significant jump occurring in the 1970s and 1980s when the erosion of the purchasing power of workers’ salaries instigated a dramatic increase in the number of two worker households, to where it became common at the end of the 20th-Century. The introduction of gender neutral terminology in the workplace accompanied this dramatic increase in the number of women workers.

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