The 1880s saw an upsurge in class struggle in the British working class movement. From smaller disputes including the famous Match Girls' strike at Bryant & Mays to the great dockworkers' strike, this was a period that saw the emergence of 'New Unionism', embracing previously unorganised and lower paid workers which laid the foundations of the British trade union movement as iit emerged in the 20th century. This work traces this class struggle and at the same time fills a vacuum in current publications on British working class history.