Red Clydeside

Literature and propaganda

Direct action : an outline of workshop and social organisation

Dec 1919

Cover of pamphlet entitled 'Direct Action: An Outline of Workshop and Social Organisation' by William Gallacher and J. R. Campbell, published by the National Council of the Scottish Workers' Committees in 1919.

The front cover shows a political cartoon which depicts the lack of trust between workers and employers. The cartoon shows a worker and an employer both holding a loving cup whilst at the same time holding clubs behind their backs in anticipation of hostilities.

The pamphlet advocates the adoption of syndicalist tactics in the workers' struggle for control of industry. The principal author, William Gallacher (chairman of the Clyde Workers' Committee at the time this pamphlet was published), and the co-author J. T. Campbell would later denounce syndicalism in favour of parliamentary communism.

Source: Gallacher Memorial Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Special Collections and Archives