General Strike

Industrial Unrest

• Had begun before the Great War
• Difficult economic conditions had led employers to resist wage claims but also to enforce more closely conditions of work
• Adverse legal decisions e.g. Taff Vale
• Obvious contrast between great wealth and great poverty (most working men earned less than £160 p.a.)
• Strikes before the war were often bitterly contested e.g. Tonypandy (1911)
• The formation of the Triple Industrial Alliance  (Dockers, Miners and Railwaymen) in 1913 had suggested a General Strike was possible
• Syndicalism was seen as a strong force among many Unions

During the war…

• ...the Unions had agreed to ban strikes...
• ...but young militants in areas like Clydeside had organised unofficial strikes.
• The Russian Revolution had been well received by many workers but had greatly alarmed the ruling class.
• Living conditions had improved dramatically and workers were determined to protect their new gains

After the war…

• ...strikes were common and often violent.
• Full employment helped fuel these strikes
• The authorities were particularly alarmed by a Police Strike
• Triple Alliance revived

The 1921 Coal Strike

• There was a long and bitter strike in 1921
• Neither side showed willingness to compromise
• Lord Birkenhead, a Tory minister said, ‘I should have thought the miners the stupidest men in England had I not already met the Mine owners.’
• After the Triple Alliance abandoned the Miners (Black Friday) they were starved back to work and forced to accept severe wage cuts
• There was  a brief period of industrial peace

The Causes of the General Strike

• Problems facing the Mining Industry
• History of poor industrial relations
• Government actions
• The Samuel Report
• The Daily Mail Incident

Problems facing the Mining Industry

• Coal was struggling to compete with other fuels (oil) and sources of energy (electricity)
• Too many British mines were small and un-modernised
• Foreign Competition was damaging the profitable export trade

Poor Industrial Relations

• Working conditions were harsh and safety poor
• The Miners had been particularly angered by the Government’s decision to hurriedly restore the Mines to private ownership in 1921

A Recovery

• In 1923 French troops occupied the Ruhr
• German industrial production shut down
• British industry stepped in
• Coal exports increased
• The miners got a pay rise

Government actions

• In 1925 Churchill returned the pound to the Gold Standard
• The pound (and therefore exports) was over-valued by 10%
• All industry was hit hard, but especially coal
• Baldwin had appealed for industrial moderation (‘Give peace in our time, O Lord’) from both sides.
• This cleverly distanced him from the extremists on both sides.
• However, he also announced that wage cuts were necessary to put industry on its feet.

Poor Industrial Relations

• The return to production of the Ruhr and the impact of the Gold Standard meant that the mine owners demanded wage cuts and longer hours.
• J. Cook coined the slogan, ‘Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day’.
• Herbert Smith, the Miner’s President summed up their attitude to compromise; ‘Nowt. We’ve nowt to offer’.

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