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Why Did The General Strike Take Place in Britain in 1926?
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 3 - 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 [next page]