The Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919 was a British Act of Parliament passed on 15 August 1919, which gave soldiers returning from World War I their pre-war jobs back.[1]
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision with respect to the restoration after the present war of certain trade practices, and to amend the law relating to munitions tribunals. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 42 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 August 1919 |
The Restoration of Pre-War Practices (No. 3) Bill (UK) had its second reading in Parliament on 2 June 1919.[2] The Minister of Labour, Sir Robert Horne described it as "designed to ensure to the trade unions of the country the right to have restored certain trade union customs and practices which they gave up during the War in order to bring about the greatest possible production of war material."[2][3]
One of the consequences of the Act was that women were no longer eligible to work in many of the roles they were employed to fill during the war.[1][4] By 1920, a million fewer women were in employment.[5] The act caused over 25 percent of working women to return from factories to domestic service as they were dismissed to make way for returning soldiers, whilst others established societies to support women to stay in the careers they had entered during the war.[1][4] The Act gave employers up to two months to return to pre-war practices and then required them to be maintained for at least a year. The removal of women from employment combined with the economic downturn of late 1920 reinforced employer and trade union hostility to their return.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Changing role of women in wartime". BBC Bitesize: Domestic impact of war: society and culture. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ a b "RESTORATION OF PRE-WAR PRACTICES (No. 3) BILL". Hansard 1803-2005. 2 June 1919. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ Rubin, Gerry R (11 February 2009). "Law as a Bargaining Weapon: British Labour and the Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919". The Historical Journal. 32 (4): 925–945. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00015764. S2CID 154969880 – via Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b "History of the Women's Engineering Society". IET Archives. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Women and the First World War". Socialist Review. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ Wrigley, Chris (ed) (2008), A Companion to Early Twentieth Century Britain, John Wiley & Sons, London, p.509
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