Mine owners were
trying to cut pay and
increase working
hours.
Conditions in the industry had
been good during WW1 when
the government had
nationalised the mining industry
Coal was important to the economy-
provided heat and power.
The unions for the miners,
transport workers and
railwaymen formed te Triple
Industrial Alliance (TIA).
They agreed to support each other
In 1921, the miners went on strike.
The leader of the railway union (J.H. Thomas)
refused to join in and the strike failed.
This event was known as Black Friday.
In 1925, the TIA
threatened to strike
again.
The Conservative
government gave a 9 month
subsidy to stop wage cuts
This was
known as Red
Friday (31 July
1925)
The government set up the
Samuel Commission to
investigate the problems of the
mining industry.
It said the miners
should take a small
pay cut.
The miners were unrealistic and
refused any wage cuts.
The motto of the
miners was "Not a
penny off the pay, not
a minute off the day "
Government Tactics
The Government were well
prepared for the strike.
The government gave
the miners a Subsidy in
1925 to buy them time to
prepare for the strike.
They divided
the country into
regions with a
head quarters
in each one.
Resources were
stockpiled- such as food,
emergency electricity to
stop the strike having an
impact.
Organisation for the Maintenance of
Supplies (OMS) set up to recruit and
train 'volunteer labour'. They could
do the jobs whilst the strike havng
impact.
The media was controlled- the government
decided what the public would hear about the
strike. This made many reports about the strike
biased.
The government
recruited special
constables to help
police the strike.
Plans were made for
using the army to
maitain supplies and
fight against strikers.
The events of the General Strike
4 May -13 May 1926
TUC leaders called a General
Strike for 4 May 1926. The TUC
had not orgaised the strike
properly- but millions of workers
went on strike anyway.
The government produced a
newspaper called The British
Gazette to attack the strike.
The TUC had a newspaper called British Worker
which was only 4 pages long because the
governmet took control of supplies of newsprint.
The BBC
refused to
allow union
leaders to
speak on the
radio.
The BBC said it did this
because the courts had
ruled the General strike as
being illegal.
The strike was mainly
peaceful but over 5,000
strikers were arrested.
The strike was successful
and public transport did
come to a stop.
After only 9 days the
TUC called off the
strike as they felt they
were losing control of
the strike.
They feared there could be a revolution.
In November 1926 the miners
were forced back to work by
hunger and poverty.
In 1927 the
Conservative
government made all
general and 'sympathy'
strikes illegal
The General Strike- a failure in Leadership
The TUC had never wanted a strike
and wanted the miners to accept a pay
cut. They tried to sort out the strike.
The TUC were against
the strike because...
It challenged the rule of the
government and was potentially
revolutionary.
It was too big to control- public opinion
could turn against unions completely if it
went wrong.
The TUC thought the miners were unrealistic.
They were worried about Communism.
There had been a Communist revoltion in
Russia in 1917.
The TUC wanted a peaceful strike-
not one that threatened the rule of the
government.
But the government said the General Strike
as an attack on the state- thw TUC were not
in full control of the strike.