Between 1921 and 1925, the situation became worse for the miners, as many areas of British industry went through a slump. These industries’ export markets were disappearing and employers, including the mine owners, were trying to cut costs further, which again angered miners and the NUM. The miners were not the only employees forced to take pay cuts during this period though; dockers, rail workers, builders and many others were forced to accept lower wages. This made more unions and workers unhappy and uneasy about their situation, making them more likely to want to strike. As a result, the unions were drawn together, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the umbrella body of all trade unions, created a General Council to organise and coordinate a large-scale strike if and when one were needed.
Because coal mining was a core primary industry in Britain in the 1920s, it was seen as a bellwether for all other industries. If the miners were having to take pay cuts and longer hours, then other unions thought it would not be long until all industries would also have to take these cuts. The industry slump leading to wage reductions in other industries heightened this fear and this was another reason for the formation of the General Council; the unions saw it as protection against their members being exploited by employers. The unions believed that it they could stop the cuts in the mining industry then cuts in other industries would also be avoided. This, and the fact that the mining industry had the largest workforce of over one million miners, made the mining industry the perfect place for other industries to ‘make a stand’ against the employers.
By 1925, the situation for all British workers worsened, as the Government introduced the Gold Standard. This fixed the value of the pound against other currencies, but also made British exports even more expensive. This in turn led to further falls in demand and consequently attempted wage cuts and rising unrest between the unions and the employers.
This time, however, the other members of the Triple Alliance supported the miners’ protests. They knew that they were three key unions to keep Britain running and, if all three unions were to strike at once, the country would come to a standstill. They thought that if they threatened a strike, the government would have to get involved in the dispute. This could have had the effect of actually turning the government against the Triple Alliance as they did not want to be bullied, but the unions saw this fact as their bargaining weapon. On the other hand, the government saw this as undermining their authority and a threat to the way the country should be run. The trade unions and the Labour Party, who were on the side of the unions, believed that the employers were being unfair and exploiting employees, the employers and the government, on the other hand believed the unions were a threat to the Constitution, as they could effectively hold the country ‘hostage’.
The Government were also concerned by possible influences of Russian socialism on the Labour movement and the unions. This fear was primary due to the ‘Zinoviev Letter’, published in the Daily Mail in 1924, which suggested that the Labour party was in League with Russian communists. It was later found to be a forgery but at the time the letter was seen as proof that Labour was working for socialism and, as a particularly damaging section of the letter read, to ‘develop the propaganda of ideas of Leninism in England and the Colonies’. The Conservative government now had reason to believe that the unions were not only a threat to the Constitution, but were also working to bring socialism to Britain through syndicalism.
When, on 30th June 1925, the mine owners gave a month’s notice that there would be a further wage cut and an extra working hour for the miners, the NUC and its leader AJ Cook were incensed. Cook insisted there would be ‘not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day’. This time, the Triple Alliance stayed firm and threatened a complete embargo on all production and transportation of coal, which would have stopped all British industry and transport networks. A collapse in the mining industry would have caused a collapse in almost every other industry in Britain and, as a worker on Tyneside summed up the situation; the other industries ‘depended on them [the miners] for everything’.
However, the TUC wanted to involve the government in any negotiations, to try to confirm a lasting settlement and to stop them having to call a strike. This proved that neither the government nor the TUC wanted a General Strike, but if neither were prepared to back down, a strike involving many of the key unions seemed inevitable.
In an attempt to buy more time to negotiate, or maybe prepare for the oncoming strikes, on ‘Red Friday’, 31st July 1925, the government agreed to pay mine owners a subsidy that would stop them having to cut miners’ wages. However, this agreement only lasted for nine months and, although the unions were pleased that miners would not have to take wage reductions, they knew that once the subsidies ended they would be in the same position as before. They also saw this as the government giving in to the mine owners, who they thought were rich enough already, and should be able to fund their mines out of their own pockets, without needing wage cuts.
Negotiations continued, but the government seemed to have become almost resigned to the fact that there would be a strike. In the months of the subsidies, it organised an unofficial committee, the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS), to recruit volunteers who would operate essential services, such as buses and trains, in the event of a General Strike. Stanley Baldwin, the prime minister at the time, also set up the Samuel Commission to look into ways to modernise the coal industry, then report back.
The report, issued in March 1926, further emphasised the widening difference of opinion between the miners and the mine owners; the reaction of both sides to this report bringing the final clash ever closer. It suggested that the coal industry should eventually be nationalised, but for the time being miners should accept a small cut in pay but no longer hours, in order to make the mines profitable. Neither the miners nor the mine owners were happy with this assessment, and the mine owners showed that they were unwilling to compromise in anyway, by enforcing a lock out on 1st May 1926, the day the subsidies ended. This meant that miners would not be able to get into their mines, so could not work and earn pay, even if they wanted to.
The TUC’s options had become severely limited, as this demonstrated to the miners that the owners were in no mood to negotiate. The TUC General Council continued to try to negotiate with the government, but backed up these negotiations with the threat of strike action. However, unlike on ‘Red Friday’, the government was no longer prepared to back down to this threat. The TUC was relying on the threat of a strike to make the government surrender, and had not actually made many strike plans, as they did not feel a strike would be needed. However, their hand was forced, as the government were no longer prepared to negotiate with the General Council, probably due to the fact they now had the OMS to ensure the country would not come to a complete standstill.
Additionally some hard liners in the government were very keen to force down the unions and not give in to their demands, most notably, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill. He had supported Stanley Baldwin in the ‘Red Friday’ agreement, and was now keen to crush the threat of the unions. Churchill was reported to have suggested that machine guns should be used on striking miners and used Mussolini in Italy as a good example of someone who could ‘combat subversive forces’ - namely communism.
The General Council did not have the power to commit all its trade unions to a general strike, but a conference of executives was called and, after considering other less drastic action, a strike involving most of Britain’s key industries was overwhelmingly supported by the executives, as they felt they could not back down after threatening a strike for so long, this would be conceding to the government. Thos strike was the only option they now felt was left open to them. The government’s refusal to give in had forced the TUC into action, and the General Strike began on 4th May 1926.
In summary, the General Strike of 1926 took place because of the conflict and dispute between the miners and the mine owners and later the involvement of workers’ unions and the Labour Movement on the side of the miners and, from 1924, the Conservative Government on the side of the owners. These disputes escalated after the First World War, when the workers experienced better conditions and safety in the mines in the times of nationalisation. After the war, the government refused to keep the mines nationalised and therefore the miners went on strike, other unions with similar grievances got involved in supporting them and threatened to strike themselves.
However, the government took these threats as an attempt at syndicalism, and refused to back down to the miners requests. The British industry slump between 1921 and 1925 further worsened the situation as more cuts in pay were enforced. The ‘Red Friday’ agreement delayed the General Strike for nine months, but ultimately the refusal of both sides to back down would inevitably end in a General Strike.