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An Introduction to Rural Conflict and Strikes in the Hop Gardens of Kent This website is dedicated to the history of the casual labour force that migrated from the East End of London to Kent for the annual hop-picking season. The site is edited by Derek Bright who became interested in the history of the migrant hop-pickers when he was studying industrial relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Derek Bright was Deputy Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union until 2002. He now runs Walk Awhile a company providing walking holidays in Kent and lives with his family near Faversham.
Hop-picking and its associated traditions undoubtedly feature prominently in peoples perceptions of local Kentish history. Of particular significance is the role played by the casual labour force that migrated from the East-end of London to Kent for the annual hop-picking season. While looking at the nature of the hop-pickers work and the workforce, this site primarily examines the occurrences of conflict in the form of labour disputes and its resolution that occurred between hop growers and the seasonal workers. The period over which the study spans is ninety years. A long period, but one that I feel is necessary as no collated data exists concerning the frequency of rural unrest occurring among this group of seasonal labourers. Therefore, I have felt it necessary to look at a period determined by the nature of change in the industry rather than initially attempting to pinpoint a period in which there was a perceptible increase in the density of hopping disputes. Therefore, the study commences from the mid-nineteenth century when the brewing industry experienced a rapid growth in beer consumption resulting in a consequent demand for hops and a commensurate rise in the demand for casual labour (1). The study ends in the mid-twentieth century with the onset of mechanised picking and a change in the social composition of the remaining casual labourers (2). The evidence regarding grievances has come from the reports and hop intelligence articles published in the Kentish Gazette. Some of the data relating to the organisation and regulation of hop-picking has been drawn from the work of Caroline Baker and Alan Bignel, as well as George Orwell's diary of hopping in Kent. From the data available I have analysed the forms of collective action and methods of work control practiced by the hop-pickers. I have also tried to ascertain where and to what extent their strength and influence lay. Of particular interest to the study of migrant, casual and seasonal labourers is the relationship they shared with the indigenous hop-pickers or 'home-dwellers'. One finds a workforce composed of members of both the urban and rural proletariat, thereby intermixing different cultural values and work orientations. In assessing the relationships between the migrant hop-pickers, their indigenous counterparts and the hop growers, the essay examines the type of occupations and the nature of workplace organisation that the migrants would have experienced in London. One of the recurring themes concerns the extent to which the migrant labourers adapted their experiences from their usual occupations to deal with grievences in the hop-gardens. Although the site is primarily about the industrial relations between hop-pickers and hop-growers, it also explores the collective organisation that can exist amongst a group of non-unionised casual workers in an informal situation.
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HOP-PICKING
Derek Bright is the site editor and
can e-mailed at 
HOP-PICKING | Rural Conflict and Strikes | The Hop-pickers Work | Who were the Migrant Pickers | Work Place Regulation | The Payment System | The Dynamics of Conflict | Conclusion | References | Hop Production in the UK | Reading
Derek Bright e-mail address
walk@walkawhile.co.uk
Date Last Modified: 22/121/09