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General Strike 1926 (Causes (Triple Alliance (1920 - Miners revived Triple…
General Strike 1926
Causes
First World War
Rich seams of coal depleted, exported less coal in war, other countries fill the gap
Coal production
Output per man fell to 199 tonnes in 1920-4, from 247 tonnes and 310 in early 1880s
Fall in coal prices
The Dawes Plan (1924) allowed Germany to re-enter international coal market by exporting free-coal
Reintroduction of gold standard
British pound too strong for effective exporting, raised interest rates, exports became more expensive
Wage Reductions
Mine owners wanted to maintain profits, miners pay fell from £6.00 to £3.90 between 7 years
Arthur James Cook
Socialist from London, against WWI and for Russian Rev., Great orater, elected leader of South Wales Miners' Federation
Triple Alliance
1920 - Miners revived Triple Alliance, where the miners, railway and transport workers. They won a strike in Oct 1920
31 March 1921 - Miners refused to join sympathetic strike
6m workers suffered wage cuts, membership fell from 8.3m to 5.6m between 1920 and 1922.
Red Friday 1925
June 1925 - Mineowners decided to cut wages by 10%, Subsidy announced on 31st Jul 1925
Gov. created Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies and began stockpiling coal, resources, and links with road haulage firms
The Samuel Commission
March 1926 - Report produced by Sir Herbert Samuel
Recommend: Amalgamation of smaller mines, end of government subsidies, national wage agreements, no increase in hours, and reduction of wages by 10%.
Day-to-day events
Tuesday 4th May
TUC called a general strike to support miners
Mineowners wanted to reduce wages by 13% and increase shift hours 7 to 8 hours
Road transport, bus, rail, dock, printing, gas and electricity, building, iron, steel, chemicals and coal workers stayed off work
Thursday 6th May
Middle-class volunteers get some buses, trains and electricity working
PM Baldwin declares strike an attack on democracy
Pedestrian killed by volunteer bus driver
Friday 7th May
Police and striker clashes in Liverpool, Hull and London.
Seizes all supplies of paper, hindering TUC's "The British Worker"
TUC embarrased when they refuse donations from Russian trade unionists
Saturday 8th May
Baton-charges on rioting strikers in Glasgow, Hull, Middlesborough, Newcastle and Preston
Volunteer numbers increase, distribution of food began to work
Large haulage companies escorted by armoured cars,
Wednesday 5th May
Gov. acts aggressively against strike and tries to exert control in media, published British Gazette
BoE refused Churchill's request freeze all trade union accounts
Warship sent to Newcastle, recruitment of 226,000 special policemen
Sunday 9th May
The Roman Catholic Church even declares the strike 'a sin'.
Monday 10th May
Some textile workers join the strike
Flying Scotsman derail train
PM declares Britain is threatened with revolution and arrests 374 communists
Tuesday 11th May
TUC led by JH Thomas calls off strike
Thomas meets in No. 10, delayed outside, drifted back to work
Consequences
TUC ruined, membership fell from 5.5m to 3.75m between 1925-30
Many history books say that "the miners struggled on for 7 months to inevitable defeat".
Wages negotiated by Cook in new "district agreements"
Bad things from the end of the strike were flooding of coalfields, mass arrest, discrimination against miners and revenge of judges, magistrates and press
Miner's Federation numbers fell 1,366 to 724 between 1927-28. This wasn't due to low unemployment but men were forced to leave the union
Trades Disputes Act (1927) made general strikes illegal.
Labour Party won 1929 GE
Events
End of Strike
Denied as a challenge to gov.
TUC instructed unions to end strike on 12th May
TUC agreed to call off strike WITHOUT receiving any committment of Samuel Memorandum
Return to Work
TUC had taken first opportunity to surrender
September 1926 - Miner's Federation ordered regional leaders to get best deals
George Spencer MP, negotiated miners to return to work and form a breakaway union. Reputation for "Spencerism"