Tom Brown

Content by or about Tom Brown (1900–1974) a British anarcho-syndicalist trade unionist, anti-fascist, engineer and writer.

headline "the foolish virgins"

Direct Action (SWF): Vol 9 #02 (80) Feb 1968

Direct Action from February 1968, including: "backing Britain" govt campaign, Stuart Christie on 18 years in prison, anti-war protests in Japan,…

aerial photo of a derelict mining pithead in Staffordshire, with many trees and other greenery around it

What To Do With The Pitheads – Tom Brown

1967 Syndicalist Workers Federation article on reclaiming the land used for mining.

Newspaper clippings about the Aberfan Disaster

After Aberfan: The Whitewash – Tom Brown

Syndicalist Tom Brown on the official Inquiry into the 1966 Aberfan Disaster.

Cover of Direct Action v7 issue 10 from October 1966 - headlines "The Judas Congress" and "A sense of proportion" a cartoon shows a boat named "industrial action" manned by angry workers heading towards a figure holding a map marked "wage freeze"

Direct Action (SWF): Vol 7 #10 (64) Oct 1966

Direct Action from October 1966 including: TUC weak on Wilson's wage freeze - Tom Brown, South Africa, workplace disputes roundup, police…

Cover of Direct Action v6 #6 1965

Direct Action (SWF): Vol 6 #06 (48) June 1965

June 1965 issue of Direct Action, includig: Labour Party doesn't nationalise steel industry, uprising in Dominica, workplace struggles round up,…

A Yoda meme "The wage system: much fail I see in you"

Abolition of the Wages System – Tom Brown

A short article on the wages system and the life of factory workers in 1965 by Tom Brown of the Syndicalist Workers Federation.

black and white photo of women working on a production line - a large machine is behind them

What is automation? - Tom Brown

Syndicalist Workers Federation article from 1964 contrasting the spectre of automation vs the reality of shopfloor "efficiencies" via time and…

Controversy: Trade Unionism or Syndicalism? - Tom Brown and Peter Turner

An exchange of views in the pages of the Syndicalist Workers Federation paper Direct Action in 1964. Typed up by Kate Sharpley Library.

Fighting for the nine-hour day - Tom Brown

From: World Labour News, May/June 1962. Transcribed by Kate Sharpley Library.

The British General Strike: 1926 - Tom Brown

An article by Tom Brown on the 1926 general strike, which originally appeared in War Commentary Nov-Dec 1942. Republished as a pamphlet by…

What’s Wrong with the Unions? A Syndicalist Answer

A look from the 1950s at the limitations of Trade Unions, and a recommendation of a syndicalist approach to organising.

Direct Action (SWF): Vol 5 #02 (32) Feb 1964

Volume 5, Issue 2 of Direct Action, with articles on a Labour-backed unemployment demo, construction disputes at St Paul's cathedral, direct…