The General Strike May 1926

The General Strike May 1926

1. Lasted 9 days. 3 million workers were involved, it started with employers locking out the workers rather than the workers going on a strike.

   • Demand for British coal had fallen because of intense foreign competition and the growing use of substitutes such as oil. Many British coal miners were old and inefficient, short of investment. Industrial relations had been bad for a long time.
     • 1913: the dockers, miners and railwaymen formed a 'triple alliance'to support each other in any major dispute with the employers. The miners wanted the coal industry to be nationalised, however after the war it had been re-privatized and the owners cut the workers wages. Major Strikes in 1919, 1920, and in 1925.

2. The coal, steel, iron, chemical and newspaper industries ceased production.

   • Ships: neither loaded or unloaded.
   • Railway Trains, the London Underground and many bus services stopped running.

3. Soldiers and armoured cars were sent into key areas in London and warships were sent to certain rivers such as Clyde, Tyne and Mersey.

   • Violence and revolution.

4. ''a challenge to parliament and a step on the road to ruin'' - Stanley Baldwin (British Gazette, 6 May 1926)

   • ''no challenge to the constitution; the TUC is engaged in an industrial dispute'' -General Council of the Trade Union Congress (British Worker, 11 May 1926)

5. 1925: Britain went back to the Gold Standard. This made British coal exports more expensive and therefore the owners cut the wages and increased the working hours. The workers rejected this so the owners threatened with a lockout.

   • The government intervened when the miners called for support from the dockers and railwaymen. They agreed to offer financial support for the workers and owners for 9 months.
     • They also set up the Samuel Commission to investigate and report on the problems of the coal industry. In March 1926, the government's Samuel Commission suggested cutting wages, but not increasing hours. Both miners and mine owners refused this compromise. Mine owners began drawing up plans to increase hours and cut pay.
     • The TUC saw this a success and named the day ''Red Friday''. However, it proved to be a failure as it rejected nationalism although it did recommend that in the long run it should restructure the coal mines.
     • When the support from the government ended in April 1926. The owners declared that they will lockout all the workers from May 1st unless they agree to wage cuts and longer hours. The workers refused to agree to that. ''Not a penny of the pay, not a second on the day.'' The TUC supported the miners and called on millions of other workers to go on strike as well.

6. Baldwin FAILED to prevent the strike. He gave the impression that the government wanted a fight with the TUC by invoking the 1921 Emergency Powers Act to declare a state of emergency and ending talks with the TUC leaders after the strike by printers of the Daily Mail the day before the General Strike was meant to start.