In the 1920’s in Britain, there was a great deal of industrial discontent. It began with the miners. As already discussed, the coal industry was in decline, since 1918. This meant mine owners had to increase hours and give less pay to keep profits going. They tried not to buy new machinery or improve mines, as this would eat away at their profits. In 1920 mine owners told miners their wages would be reduced. The miners decided to go on a strike with the other members of the tripe alliance (the National Union of Railway Men and the Transport and General Workers Union). It was understood that these two unions would join the miners in a ‘sympathy’ strike. But on Friday 15th April the two unions decided not to support the miners and refused to go on strike. The miners called this Black Friday. It was a disaster for themselves and other trade unions. The miners went on strike alone but were defeated, they had to go back to work for even lower wages. Later other industries such as shipyards, printers and railway workers were forced to accept lower wages. The unions had learnt their lesson form Black Friday; a defeat for one union was a defeat for all. In the future they pledged to stand together. In 1925, coal prices fell yet again and owners wanted to cut wages just as they had done in 1921 but the miners were ready to strike developing the slogan, “Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day.” This time the other industries went on strike with the miners. The Government weren’t ready for a General Strike so they brought themselves time buy giving the mine owners a subsidy of £10 million, to keep wages at the same level as they were before the wage cuts were made. This event became known as Red Friday (Friday 31st July 1925) and was seen as a total success for the working class. It also showed what could be achieved if the Trade Unions worked together. However, it was announced the subsidy would only last 9 months – enough time for the Government to prepare for a General Strike. The Government set up a commission called the Samuel Commission, headed by Sir Herbert Samuel to deal with the problems of the coal mining industry.
The short-term cause of the General strike was the Samuel Commission, the commission rejected nationalisation and said the government should end the subsidy. It agreed to wage cuts and said working days should be 7/8 hours long. The report sided completed with the mine owners since the whole commission was made up of rich industrialists.
The Government immediately responded to the Samuel Commission. They declared the subsidy would end on 30th April 1926. The owners increased the hours and reduced wages by 10-25% with the support of the government. Many meetings were made but no agreement was made. So on May 1st 1926 the miners went on strike for better pay and conditions.
A strike looked possible in 1925 when the Triple Alliance promised support for the miners so the Government brought them time with the subsidy and made preparations for when the subsidy ended. They built coal stocks to last for 5 months, increased the number of special constables from 98,000 to 226,000, drew up detailed instructions for the army, navy and police to guard docks, telephones exchanges and power stations, gave money to the owners of haulage firms to put 200,000 vehicles at the Governments disposal and set up the OMS (Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies). The OMS is a group of about 100,000 volunteers who unloaded cargo from ships, drove buses and trains. People joined the OMS for a number of reasons. The middle class thought the strike was a threat to them and an attempt to ruin the country economically. Others joined for financial reasons, the Government paid constables £2.31 a week plus food. The miners were on strike refusing to accept wages of £1.58. The TUC (Trade Union Council) wasted their time. They never expected the Government to allow a General strike to happen. The miners made their positions weaker by getting a record level of coal output. This made it easier for the Government to stock up on coal reserves. When the General Strike began the TUC decided to bring out the workers in key industries – railwaymen, transport workers, dockers, printers, builders and iron and steel workers. Nearly 3 million men were taken out of work. And later others like, the engineers and shipyard workers can be called out. In London, at the headquarters of the TUC, there was far less optimism than the workers who were prepared to stay out as long as it takes. There seemed to be little unity between trade union leaders.
The Government were willing to let the strike continue, as they were prepared and confident they could last longer than the Trade Unions.
The TUC had promised their support if an agreement was failed to be reached. So great efforts were made by the TUC to reach an agreement with the Government and mine owners to prevent a general strike. The discussions went on late into Sunday evening (May 3rd) and according to the main TUC negotiator an agreement was close when the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, broke off the talks with the TUC. The reason for this action, was that the printers at the Daily Mail newspaper had refused to print an article about the strike the Government had prepared. They were sympathetic to the miners. The TUC apologised but Baldwin refused to re-open talks. Baldwin knew he could win, they had prepared for the strike and knew the TUC couldn’t last that long. But in response to the breakdown in negations, the TUC sent strike negations to the Transport, Railway, Dock, Print, Electric and Steel and Chemical workers.
The General Strike began on Monday 4th 1926.
The TUC argued that the miners were facing longer hours with lower pay, imposed by mine owners to keep profits up. They said it was an Industrial Dispute between bosses and their workers. The TUC also believed if the miners were defeated it would lead to lower wages for all workers. It was a struggle for all working class people not just he people. The Government argued this was a Constitutional issue and that the Trade Unions were building up their strengths to overthrow the Government. The Government did this to worry people and get them to side with the Government and it worked.
I agree with the TUC they only want better pay and conditions. They do not want to take over the Government.
The General Strike in 1926 started because of the conditions of the miners. Other workers realised if the didn’t support the miners their bosses may lower their wages knowing nothing shall be done. This is why the TUC found the idea of a General Strike appealing, they knew if they stuck together their demands should be met – especially after Black Friday. The Government did not want nationalisation, they were prepared and ready for the prospect of a General Strike and the is why they won in the end.
I feel the TUC should have been more prepared although the idea of a General Strike is theoretically unstoppable there were measures the Government could take and they should have been more aware.
