Stanley Baldwin, the General Strike

Stanley Baldwin, the General Strike

1. General Strike 1926

   • A. J. P. Taylor: an alarming an unnecessary interruption [to Baldwin's Government]
   • Miners unhappy about pay, conditions, hours
     • TUC support Miners
     • "Not a penny off the pay, not a minute off the day"
   • Planned for July 31 1925, nicknamed Red Friday
     • Baldwin offered a temporary subsidy, and set up the Samuel Commission to look into the Miners' claims
       • Samuel Commission wouldn't report until March 1926
         • Recommended complete, structural change in coal industry
         • Told Miners to accept pay cuts
           • Enraged Miners with TUC support, arrange General Strike for 30th April
   • Response to Strike Action
     • TUC not enthusiastic, thought Gov would back down as in 1925
     • Gov called TUC's bluff
     • May 1 1926, looked like a compromise, lock outs by owners stopped
       • May 2, Daily Mail refusal to print an article
         • Baldwin, refused to carry in negotiations unless TUC condemned Daily Mail actions
           • TUC had not been negotiated by the paper, and still wanted to negotiate
     • Baldwin's response
       • May 3, declared a state of emergency
         • TUC begin strike
           • Not prepared, wanted negotiation; strike actually result of Daily Mail
             • Marquand: Miners seen as the first line of defence for the WC [therefore it gained support]
     • Government response
       • Government ready to respond to strike after climb down in 1925
         • Under Emergency Powers Act 1920, Gov set up Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS)
           • National network of volunteers, particularly wth hauliers for food supplies
       • Public mainly supported Gov
   • Failure of the Strike
     • BBC neutral, and printers on strike, so difficult to get news
     • Government prepared, and TUC reluctant
     • Public indifferent
     • After 9 days, (12 May) strike called off by TUC
       • Won no concessions
         • Miners on strike for 7 months
   • Strike Aftermath
     • Trade Disputes Act 1927 in May aimed at making another General Strike impossible
       • Outlawed General and sympathetic strikes and restricted strike action to specific disputes, and stopped trade union fees going to Labour
     • Marr: not a revolutionary strike, was not aimed at deposition. But could not succeed unless Parliament was humiliated. Since the leaders of the strike did not want that, they were bound to fail
     • A. J. P. Taylor: the average working man (except miners) was better off in 1929 than ever before
   • Pugh: The strike united Labour having political impact

2. Return to Gold Standard under Churchill in 1925

   • 1919, Gold Standard suspended for 6 years
     • Churchill valued the pound at its PRE-WAR value
       • Exchange rate increased
         • Exports difficult to sell, since the goods were now 10% more expensive
           • Coal suffered especially since an agreement of the Dawes Plan that France would get free coal as part of German war reparations