Soderberg Harry

Harry Soderberg

 

G. A "Harry" Soderberg was a Communist party member in its earliest days and became London organiser of the National Unemployed Workers' Committee Movement  (NUWCM), which had been established on 15th April 1921 at the International Socialist Club.

 

However, in 1923 Harry Soderberg left the Communist Party and worked with Sylvia Pankhurst in attempting to establish a rival Unemployed Workers' Organisation (UWO) in 1923.  The UWO  attacked the NUWCM  for" limiting itself to improving conditions for the unemployed and accused it of being dominated by professional politicians"  The Communist Party declared the UWO as "dominated by middle class politicians".

By late September 1923, the UWO claimed 1,490 members and, by January 1924, three thousand members. These were mainly concentrated in London, particularly in Bow & Poplar, Millwall, Lambeth, Camberwell and there were some in Scotland.  (At Edmonton, North London some 600 members of the local NUWCM joined the UWO.)

Reports of the UWO appeared in Sylvia Pankhurst's journal "Workers Dreadnought" the UWO watch word was "Abolition of the Wages System".

The UWO was involved in a demonstration on 6th September 1923 against the famous Poplar Councillors which was broken up with great brutality.

 
Source:

`Sylvia Pankhurst’ by Barbara Winslow

Michael Walker