The General Strike

The General Strike

1. Problems of the Coal Mines

   • Employed more than 1 mil workers
   • Miners Federation of Great Britain
     • Well organised
       • Tradition of militancy
   • Strikes in 1919 and 1920
     • Still poor pay
       • Poor Conditions
   • Dangerous
     • Between 1922 and 1924
       • 3603 killed
       • 597,158 injured
   • Industry in decline
     • Made worse by economic impact of war
       • Especially when Germany recovered

2. The Gold Standard

   • Going back to Gold Standard
     • Negative impact on coal industry
       • Exports more expensive
         • Loss of £2.1 mil
     • Mine owners called for wage cuts and longer working hours
       • Miners rejected these demands
         • Owners threatened a lockout
           • Miners called for support from railway men and dockers
             • Baldwin Government intervened
               • Offered financial support to subsidise the owners and miners
                 • Unions happy with this
               • Set up Samuel Commision
                 • Investigate and report problems of the coal industry
                   • Proved to be a disappointment
                     • Rejected Nationalisation
                     • Rejected longer hours
                       • However agreed with wage cuts

3. The Samuel Report

   • Each side accepted the parts of the Samuel report that they liked
     • Rejected the rest

4. Government Subsidies

   • Ended in 1926
     • Owners then declared
       • Miners locked out
         • If didn't accept reduced pay and longer working hours
           • Miners were defiant
             • Didn't accept these terms
   • Miners appealed to TUC for support
     • On 1st May
       • TUC called for millions of other trade unionists to strike in support of the miners

5. Baldwin's response

   • Failed to prevent the strike
     • Could have exerted pressure on owners
       • Instead he gave the impression that the government wanted to fight the TU
         • This was due to the invoking of the 1920 Emergency Powers Act
           • Declared a state of emergency
         • Abruptly ended talks with TUC leaders the day before the General Strike was due to begin

6. Failure of the General Strike

   • The strike lasted 9 days
     • Government had the upper hand
       • Emergency Powers Act
         • Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies
           • 100,000 volunteer workers
       • Baldwin
         • Argued the strike was a threat to the British constitution
           • Won public sympathy
             • Turned issue away from the miners grievances
               • Question of who ruled Britain
                 • Government or TUC?
                   • Didn't attack TUC directly
                     • Argued they'd been led astray
         • Put Churchill in charge of British Gazette
           • Fought a campaign to undermine support for the strike
             • Played on the desire of the country to avoid violence and disorder
   • TUC leadership
     • Not organised enough
       • No national system for coordinating strike action
     • They hoped the government would back down at the threat of a strike
       • Tactic failed
         • Struggled to find a way out
           • Miners refused to compromise
             • TUC forced to back out
               • 12th May
                 • Called off the strike
                   • Miners fought alone
                     • Eventually had to accept wage cuts and longer working hours

7. Results of the Strike

   • Miners
     • The TUC accepted a compromise without the miners
       • The miners did not gain their demands over wages and hours
         • Many miners faced punishment on return
           • Some were demoted or lost their jobs
   • The Trade Union Movement
     • Cost the unions millions
       • Could no longer support strikes
         • 1927 Trade Disputes Act
           • Made sympathetic strikes illegal
             • Prevented Trade Unions from funding the Labour party
       • Membership dropped to below 5 mil
   • The Conservatives
     • Handling of the strike was praised
       • By the Upper and Middle Class
         • Workers not happy with methods used by government to achieve a victory
           • Didn't like the Trade Disputes Act
             • Unions turned against Baldwin and Conservatives
               • Impact on the 1929 election
   • Labour Party
     • Strike didn't harm the Labour party as expected
       • Ramsay MacDonald refused that the party get involved in the strike
         • Successful image of firmness and moderation