Why Did The General Strike Take Place in Britain in 1926?

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THE GENERAL STRIKE


Why did it take place?


In May 16, in the greatest unity the unions have ever shown in this country one and a half million members of the ‘Triple Alliance’ supported the miners and went on strike. There were various reasons why so many people were willing to strike. The miners demanded a lot of respect and higher wages because of the dangerous job they did and they were seen as the ‘barometer’ of industrial relations, this means if it happened to the miners it happened to the rest of the countries workforce soon after. The minors were very political minded and rebellious. The mine owners were rich and influential and when coal prices dropped in the aftermath of world war one they wanted to decrease the wages and increase the working day, the miners looked to their unions who were strong and confident.


One of the long-term causes of the strike went right back to before World War One. Between 106 and the outbreak of war union membership doubled and trade unions grew in size. Industrial disputes were familiar and in 118 when the police were not given permission to join a union they even went out on strike. When there were problems between the miners and the owner’s strikes often occurred but these were suspended on the outbreak of war because of the ‘national emergency’. The mines were nationalised and were run by the government, and the minors preferred this and thought it was the only way to get the modernisation they hoped for. After the war coal prices dropped mainly because of the stiff competition British coal faced with cheaper coal that Germany and Poland were mining in more modernised pits. In Britain in 14 only cutting machines produced twenty per cent of the overall output, the rest was by handpicks. In addition France and Italy the main buyers before the war were now receiving free coal under the reparations from World War I. Mine owners failed to promote greater efficiency and more mechanisation which would allow them to compete better with other countries, the owners blamed falling profits on high wages and this lead to mine owners wanting to cut wages and increase the working day. After the war the government agreed to hand back the mines to the original owners and all hope of nationalisation and modernisation that would enable the industry to survive was lost.


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Another long-term factor was down to the trade unions as they were becoming stronger all the time and union membership was always rising. They were strong and confident, and as the triple alliance would bring the country to a standstill they believed all they had to do in an industrial dispute was to threaten strike action and the government would back them up. This time they were wrong. They also believed in syndicalism, where they thought workers had a right in the running of the industry they worked in. They also wanted the mines to be nationalised and wanted more pay for the miners and not a cut in their wages and an increase in the working day. “Not a penny off the day, not a minute on the day” was one of their ‘slogans’.


The miners themselves were very politically minded, and founder of the Labour party Keir Hardie was a miner so they knew the Labour government would support them. They also believed in their Unions to help them through disputes. Since the World War miners wanted more pay for the dangerous job they did and thought the only way the mines would be modernised is if the government took them over and nationalised them. After the war when coal prices dropped and mine owners proposed to drop the wages and increase the working day they made no hesitation in calling upon there union and fellow members of the strong Triple Alliance to support them.


The mine owners also played a big part in why the general strike took place, as they were the people who wouldn’t listen to the miner’s demands. They took a hard line and when coal prices dropped they immediately tried to lower wages and lengthen the day. They were rich and very influential and made huge profits, and were able to influence the Conservative government. They disagreed with nationalisation, which the miners wanted so badly and ignored the Sanky commission, which stated that the mines should be nationalised. They accepted wage subsides from the government and then ignored the recommendations of the Samuel Commission and dropped wages by thirteen percent and lengthened the day further.


Meanwhile the government wanted to maintain good relations with both sides and had a much softer approach following liberal reforms. The government also needed the support of the trade unions to sort out economic problems and difficulties after the war. The Sankey Commission was in favour of nationalisation and offered subsidies, though this was only for nine months and some people believe it was to build up a stockpile of coal so the country was ready and properly prepared for the strike. Winston Churchill, spoiling for the fight, developed the Daily Mail incident. Churchill visited the editor, Thomas Marlowe, who was persuaded to publish an anti union article. The London print workers refused to print this and this caused a breakdown in talks and is often seen as the trigger cause of the strike.


The Trades Union Congress called a conference of its constituent unions and reported that it could see no alternative to a general sympathetic strike as a means of giving the miners what the wanted. The executives resolved that a strike would be set from midnight - 4 May. The large majority of the organised workers ceased work. The country was at a standstill and the government decided that middle class volunteers would carry out the essential services.


In the absence of newspapers the government took control of the radio and issued a newspaper of its own which was called the British Gazette, and it contained anti union articles whilst the TUC published their own paper, the British Worker. During the strike they were often reports of clashes with the police and volunteer workers. The government or mine owners didn’t want to give in and they both stood their ground and after nine days of strikes the TUC felt that the unions had gone as far as they could in supporting the miners. They decided they were going to call the strike off. On the 11th May, at a meeting of the Trade Union Congress General Committee, it was decided to accept the terms proposed by Herbert Samuel and to call off the General Strike. The following day, the TUC General Council visited 10 Downing Street to tell to the British Government that the General Strike was over. At the same meeting the TUC tried to convince the Government to support the terms of the Samuel commissions and to offer a guarantee that there would be no unfair treatment of strikers, however the Government refused to do so. The strike was called off and overall it involved over million workers, and caused the loss of about 160 million working days. The miners however, stayed out for another six months. Although they were eventually driven back to work by starvation. They returned on the owners terms, to longer hours, lower wages, and the owners did nothing to improve conditions.


In the next few years after the strike everyone was still talking about it. It shook the British establishment heavily and was look on as an influential event. However the General Strike of 16 did not lead to anything bigger like a revolution or major constitutional change and despite the strike nothing really changed.


I think the actions of the mine owners are the main reason the strike occurred, as they never agreed to the commission’s recommendations. However the trigger cause was down to the government when the tried to publish their anti union article in The Daily Mail which was refused print by the print workers as this lead to the breakdown of talks and the start of the strike.





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