Labour Exchanges Act 1909

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Labour Exchanges Act 1909
Act of Parliament
File:Coat of arms of the United Kingdom (1901-1952).svg
Long titleAn Act to provide for the establishment of Labour Exchanges and for other purposes incidental thereto.
Citation9 Edw. 7. c. 7
Dates
Royal assent20 September 1909
Other legislation
Repealed byEmployment and Training Act 1948
Status: Repealed
File:Nottingham Labour Exchange - geograph.org.uk - 1293856.jpg
Labour Exchange in Nottingham

The Labour Exchanges Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 7) was an act of Parliament which saw the state-funded creation of labour exchanges, also known as employment exchanges. The stated purpose was to help the unemployed find employment.[1]

Prior to the creation of these government-funded labour exchanges, workers would have to search for jobs themselves; the first labour exchange was established by social reformer and employment campaigner Alsager Hay Hill in London in 1871.[2]

The act also wanted to improve the mobility of the workforce, which until then had not been achieved. However, the exchanges were not very effective since only 25% of those listed on the labour exchange workforce found employment through them.[citation needed]

The law was opposed by some trade unions that feared their bargaining power would be reduced by the law and make it easier to recruit cheap labour from distant parts of the country.[citation needed]

See also

[edit | edit source]

Notes

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ J. B. Seymour, The British Employment Exchange (PS King & Son 1928) 8
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).