A Radical Army - Marching with the Strikers for Justice

Here's a quote from an article by Lord Glasman on "Labour as Radical Tradition". 

I wonder if anyone knows anymore about this? And I wonder what challenges it might bring to our understanding of the adjective "radical" when talking about the Salvation Army?

"The London Dock strike of 1899 is a classic expression of the Labour Movement in action, built on the assumption that only organised people could resist exploitation, and the forging of an alliance between Catholic Irish and local workers, brokered by the Catholic and Methodist churches. The local Labour Representation Committees were the new institutions within which the previously unrelated forces met and within which leaders were elected, strategy discussed and actions planned. It is here that the third grandparent of the labour movement, the ‘labour aristocracy’ of skilled workers who had lost their status and small holders who had lost their land make their appearance drawing upon customary practice as a means of defining managerial prerogative. The courage of the strikers was remarkable. To disrupt trade was viewed as unpatriotic and seditious as the British Empire was a maritime emporium with London at its hub, and the force of the Navy and army as well as the police was threatened against the strikers. The laws of the maritime economy, freely contractual, was held to apply to the port, which was excluded from territorial legislation. To build a successful political coalition on the basis of stable employment and wages was a great founding achievement of Labour politics. Cardinal Newman, accompanied by the Salvation Army Band, leading the striking dockers on their march made it very difficult for the employers to use force and depict them as an undisciplined rabble"

This was Social Justice in action. Courageous action. A willingness to identify with a group of workers whom the establishment of the day dismissed as unpatriotic troublemakers. Political controversy. Making a statement. Standing up against the prevailing jingoistic narrative of the day for righteousness. Wow!

I note that Cardinal Manning was dead by 1892 so have since established that the Dockers strike was in 1889, not 1899 - a simple typo!

What cost my witness, my stand for social justice and for righteousness?

It is not with might to establish the right,

Nor yet with the wise to give rest;

The mind cannot show what the heart longs to know

Nor comfort a people distressed.

O Saviour of men, touch my spirit again,

And grant that thy servant may be

Intense every day, as I labour and pray,

Both instant and constant for thee.

Except I am moved with compassion,

How dwelleth thy Spirit in me?

In word and in deed

Burning love is my need;

I know I can find this in thee.

Albert Orsborn (1886-1967)

You can read the full article at http://www.thecsm.org.uk/Articles/228483/Christian_Socialist_Movement/Articles/Web_Exclusives/Labour_as_a.aspx