38
Catholic workers as unequivocally subversive, was to be emphasized in the justificatory
statements made by the representatives of the shipyards after the expulsions.’
83
Patterson
also stresses the role of the Ulster Unionist Labour Association in the workplace
expulsions of Catholics as a semiautonomous labor organization, which shared the anti-
communism and anti-nationalism of the Unionist leaders without being a pawn. ‘[The
UULA] from the end of the First World War, determined to ‘purify’ the labour
movement in Belfast.”
84
The passive attitude of capital in the case of the Belfast expulsions contrasts with
its active role in the Johannesburg mines and in the communities from which Chicago’s
stockyard workers were drawn, in seeking to take advantage of the opportunities offered
by cheaper African and Black labor. In the first instance, Catholic labor was not
necessarily cheaper than Protestant labor in Northern Ireland, particularly in the highly
unionized shipbuilding and engineering sector (although possibly in textiles and
laboring). Second, capital – particularly sectors tied to the defense sector like the
shipyards – held that its future was tied to the United Kingdom economy; hence
management may have shared the workers’ fears of Catholic subversion. Further, a
homogenous work force is generally easier to manage particularly in a divided society.
Common Patterns of Post War Violence
Comparing labor related ethnic violence after World War I brings highlights two
important similarities between the cases. First, in all three cases the leading instigators of
the conflicts were semi-skilled rather than highly skilled workers, suggesting that the
83
Patterson (fn. 26), 135.
84
Patterson (fn. 26), 140.
Convention