The Subsidised Mineowner - Poor Beggar!
from the Trade Union Unity Magazine (1925)

Foraging for coal in the strike

Tyldesley miners outside the Miners Hall during the strike

The UK General Strike of 1926 lasted nine days, from 3 May 1926 to 12 May 1926, and was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. Image File history File links The_Subsidised_Mineowner. ... Image File history File links The_Subsidised_Mineowner. ... Image File history File links Foraging_for_coal_in_the_1926_General_Strike. ... Image File history File links Foraging_for_coal_in_the_1926_General_Strike. ... Image File history File links Tyldesley_miners_outside_the_Miners_Hall_during_the_1926_General_Strike. ... Image File history File links Tyldesley_miners_outside_the_Miners_Hall_during_the_1926_General_Strike. ... May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Image:TradeUnionsCongress20050108 CopyrightKaihsuTai. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use as fuel. ...

Causes of the General Strike

The British coal-mining industry suffered an economic crisis in 1925, largely caused by five factors:

• World War I - The heavy usage of coal in World War I domestically meant that rich seams were depleted during this time, and that Britain exported less coal in this time than it would have done in times of peace, allowing other countries to fill the gap left by Britain. In particular the United States, Poland and Germany benefited from this.
• Low productivity, which was at its lowest ebb. Output per man had fallen to just 199 Imperial tons in the period 1920-4, from 247 tons in the four years before the War, and a peak of 310 tons in the early 1880s. ^[1]
• The fall in prices resulting from the 1925 Dawes Plan that, among other things, allowed Germany to re-enter the international coal market by exporting "free coal" to France and Italy as part of their reparations for World War I.
• The reintroduction of the Gold Standard in 1925 by Winston Churchill - this made the pound too strong for effective exporting to take place from Britain, and also (because of the economic processes involved in maintaining a strong currency) raised interest rates, hurting all businesses whether they exported or not.
• Mine owners wanted to normalise profits even during times of economic instability - which often took the form of wage reductions. Coupled with the prospect of longer working hours, the industry was thrown into disarray.

Mine owners therefore announced their intention to reduce miners' wages, and the TUC responded to this news by promising to support the miners in their dispute. The Conservative government under Stanley Baldwin decided to intervene, declaring that they would provide a nine-month subsidy to maintain the miners' wages and that a Royal Commission under the chairmanship of Sir Herbert Samuel would look into the problems of the mining industry. This decision became known as "Red Friday" because it was seen as a victory for working-class solidarity. In practice, the subsidy gave the mine owners and the Government time to prepare for a major labour dispute. Herbert Smith (a leader of the Miner's Federation of Great Britain) said about this event : "We have no need to glorify about victory. It is only an armistice." Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... A long ton is the name used in the US for the unit called the ton in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used (alongside the metric system) in the United Kingdom and to some extent in other Commonwealth countries. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... At the conclusion of World War I the Allies imposed in the Treaty of Versailles a plan for reparations to be paid by Germany. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead:5 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:8 million Military dead:4 million Civilian dead:3 million Total dead:7 million The First World... This article is on the monetary principle. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... UKP redirects here. ... An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money he does not own, and the return a lender receives for deferring his consumption, by lending to the borrower. ... The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political party in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC (3 August 1867–14 December 1947) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on three separate occasions. ... In countries that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government inquiry into an issue. ... Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel (1870-1963) was a British politician and diplomat. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ...

The Samuel Commission published its report in March 1926: it recognised that the industry needed to be reorganised but rejected the suggestion of nationalisation. The report also recommended that the Government subsidy should be withdrawn and that the miners' wages should be reduced in order to save the industry's profitability. A previous Royal Commission, the Sankey Commission, had recommended nationalisation a few years earlier to deal with the problems of productivity and profitability in the industry, but the then Prime Minister, Lloyd George, had rejected its report. Nationalization or nationalisation is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM (January 17, 1863–March 26, 1945) was a British statesman and the last Liberal to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...

Following publication of the Samuel Commission's report, the mine owners then published new terms of employment for all miners. These included an extension of the seven-hour working day, district wage-agreements, and a reduction in the wages. Depending on a number of factors, the wages would be cut by between 10% and 25%. The mine owners declared that if the miners did not accept the new terms then from the first day of May they would be locked out of the pits. The MFGB refused the wage reduction and regional negotiation : "Not a penny of the pay, not a second on the day".

The General Strike

A Conference of the TUC met on the 1 May 1926, and subsequently announced that a general strike "in defence of miners' wages and hours" was to begin on the 3rd of May. The leaders of the Labour Party were terrified by the revolutionary elements within the union movement and were unhappy about the proposed General Strike. During the next two days frantic efforts were made to reach an agreement with the Government and the mine owners. However these efforts failed, due mainly to an eleventh-hour decision by printers of the Daily Mail to refuse to print a scathing editorial condemning the General Strike entitled "For King and Country". They objected to this following passage : "A general strike is not an industrial dispute. It is a revolutionary move which can only succeed by destroying the government and subverting the rights and liberties of the people". When Baldwin heard of this, he called off the negotiations with the TUC by saying that this refusal was interfering with the liberty of the press. May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. ... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... The Daily Mail is a British newspaper, currently a tabloid, first published in 1896. ...

The TUC feared that an all-out general strike would bring revolutionary elements to the fore. They decided to bring out workers only in the key industries, such as railwaymen, transport workers, printers, dockers and iron and steel workers. The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in Great Britain. ... The National Transport Workers Federation was an association of British trade unions. ... The Transport and General Workers Union, also known as the TGWU and the T&G, is one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland - where it is known as the Amalgamated TGWU - with 900,000 members (and was once the largest trade union in the...

The Government had prepared for the strike over the nine months in which it had provided a subsidy, creating organisations such as the organisation for the maintenance of supplies, and did whatever it could to keep the country moving. It rallied support by emphasising the revolutionary nature of the strikers. The armed forces and volunteer workers helped maintain basic services. Ever in 1920, the governement's Emergency Powers Act had been passed. It was an act to maintain essential supplies.

On the 4 May 1926, the number of strikers was about 1,5 - 1,75 millions. There were strikers "from John O'Groats to Land's End". Worker's reaction to the strike call was immediate and overwhelming and surprised both the Governement and the TUC, the latter not being in control of the strike. On this first day, there was no major initiative and no dramatic events except the nation's transport which was at standstill.

On the 5 May 1926, the propaganda machine was set in motion. Churchill (at that time minister of finance) said in his newspaper British Gazette : " I do not agree that the TUC have as much right as the Government to publish their side of the case and to exhort their followers to continue action. It is a very much more difficult task to feed the nations than it is to wreck it". In the British Worker, the TUC's newspaper : " We are not making war on the people. We are anxious that the ordinary members of the public shall not be penalised for the unpatriotic conduct of the mine owners and the government". In the mean time, the government put in place a "milice" : Special Constables. They were volunteers to maintain order in the street. A Special constable said : " It was not difficult to understand the strikers attitude toward us. After a few days I found my sympathy with them rather than with the employers. For one thing, I had never realized the appalling poverty which existed. If I had been aware of all the facts, I should not have join up as a special constable".

On the 6 May 1926, there was a change of atmosphere. Baldwin said : " The General Strike is a challenge to the parliament and is the road to anarchy". Means of transport began to improve with volunteers and Blackleg workers (one who works in spite of the strike). May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On the 7 May 1926, the TUC met with Sir Herbert Samuel and worked out a set of proposals designed to end the dispute. The Miners' Federation rejected the proposals. The British Worker was increasingly more difficult to operate because Churchill had decided to take over the production of paper. In the mean time, the government took actions to protect the men who decided to return to work. May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On the 8 May 1926, there was a dramatic moment on the London Docks. Lories were protected by the army. They broke the picket line and transported food to Hyde Park. This episode showed that the government was in greater control of the situation. A little anecdote, on this day, a football match took placed between strikers and police. May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On the 12 May 1926, the TUC General Council visited 10 Downing Street to announce their decision to call off the strike, provided that the proposals worked out by the Samuel Commission were adhered to and that the Government offered a guarantee that there would be no victimisation of strikers. The Government stated that it had "no power to compel employers to take back every man who had been on strike." Thus the TUC agreed to end the dispute without such an agreement. May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 10 Downing Street, commonly known as Number 10, is arguably the most famous street address in London. ...

After the General Strike

For several months the miners continued to maintain resistance, but by October 1926 hardship forced many men back. By the end of November most miners were back at work. However, many were victimised and remained unemployed for many years. Those that were employed were forced to accept longer hours, lower wages, and district wage agreements.

In 1927, the British Government passed the Trade Disputes and Trade Union Act. This act made all sympathetic strikes illegal, and ensured that trade union members had to voluntarily "contract in" to pay the political levy. It also forbade Civil service unions from affiliating with the TUC, and made mass picketing illegal. A sympathy strike is a labour strike that is initiated by workers in one industry and supported by workers in a separate but related industry. ... A civil servant or public servant is a civilian career public sector employee working for a government department or agency. ... Employees of the BBC form a picket line during a strike in May 2005. ...

The effect on the British coal-mining industry was profound. By the late 1930s, employment in mining had fallen by more than one-third from its pre-strike peak of 1.2m miners, but productivity had rebounded from under 200 tons produced per miner to over 300 tons by the outbreak of the Second World War. ^[2] Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

References

See also

• List of United Kingdom-related topics

This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

UK General Strike of 1926

• General Strike on Schoolnet
• The General Strike Overview and reproductions of original documents at the website of the Trades Union Congress
• The General Strike - ten days that shook Britain - History of the British General Strike from libcom.org
• Trade Union Ancestors