JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

SOURCES 103would claim credit for the same achievement. Thus the ITGWU in Liberty stated that it was they ratherthan the Irish Women Workers' Union who fIrst achieved the principle of two weeks holidays withpay.10 More modestly, the Postal Worker stated that' among civil service organisations the union holdsa place of honour and it has ever been in the vanguard of every fight to improve the conditions of civilservants'. 11 / .;' .. • -' ,An employers' perspective, some would argue already well represented in the press, can also'.befound in the relevant trade journal and these should be consulted, where available, to complementresearch based on trade union journals. 12 B ut trade union journals are often the only source giving aunion viewpoint on a particular subject, are readily accessible, are important supplements to survivingrecords and, sadly, in many cases comprise the most significant or only record source for the union.When the Irish Labour History Society Trade Union and Labour Related Records Survey guide ispublished, researchers will have available an accurate list of what trade union journals survive andwhere they may be consuItedP The National Library ofIreland already has many journals available,some on microfilm. The general catalogue will indicate precise reference for periodicals but a shorterguide is available for consultation at the counter for those journals classifIed as newspapers, A guideto the trade union journals in the National Library is reproduced here. Many unions have neverdeposited their journals with the NU and in such cases access can only be achieved by direct applicationto the unions concerned.NotesSarah Ward-Perk ins1. For details of rrowu journals held by the union itself, see Mary Carolan, 'Expanding Trade Unionism: therrowu Library', Saothar 11,1986, pp. 101-4.2. The Health Insurance Act, 1933, revolutionised the whole system of health insurance in Ireland providing thatthe.existing sixty five approved societies would gradually be absorbed into a unified society. The IUDWCsociety was transferred to the Unified Society on 30 June, 1934. See Distributive Worker, xii, 1933, p. 81;xii, 1934, pp. 115-6, 136-9.3. ibid., xxiii, 1944, pp. 34-5.4. The decisions in these cases 'were of great importance, establishing ... the right conceded in the Trade DisputesAct, 1906 of workers to assemble near the premises in which the dispute occurred for the purpose of receivingor conveying information that a trade dispute exists or is in contemplation', ibid., xiv, 1935, pp. 234-5; xiii,1934, pp. 219-221, 241-2:5. ibid., iv, 1925, pp. 185-6.6. ibid., xxv, i946, pp. 39-42,66-7.7. See, for example, ibid., xxiii, 1944, p. 3: xxv, 1946, p. 81.8. For example see Hours Agreement with Dublin Merchant Drapers' Association, ibid., x, 1931, pp. 161-2;Agreement with Wholesale Clothing and Cap Manufacturers, ibid., xiii, 1934, pp. 161-3; and BelfastNationalJoint Industrial Council for retail Drapery, Outfitting and Footwear Trades, ibid., xxiii, 1944, pp. 77-81.9. ibid., xxiii, 1944, pp. 42-3.' .10. Liberty, vo!. 1, no. 3, 1949, p. 4.11. Postal Worker, xxii, 1944, p. 56.12. Enda McKay, 'A Century ofIrish TradeJoumals, 1860-1960' in B. Hayley and E. McKay (eds.), 300 Yearsof Irish Periodicals, (Dublin, 1987), pp. 103-121.13. A Guide to DublinLabour Records, (forthcoming). The ILHS Survey has virtually completed the compilationof the guide and it is expected to be published late 1988, early 1989.