1926 United Kingdom general strike

The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted 9 days, from 4 May 1926 to 13 May 1926. It was called by the general council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for 1.2 million locked-out coal miners. Some 1.7 million workers went out, especially in transport and heavy industry. The government was prepared and enlisted middle class volunteers to maintain essential services. There was little violence and the TUC gave up in defeat. In the long run, there was little impact on trade union activity or industrial relations.

History

Causes of the 1926 conflict

General strike

A general strike (or mass strike) is a strike action in which a substantial proportion of the total labour force in a city, region, or country participates. General strikes are characterized by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. General strikes first occurred in the mid-19th century, and have characterized many historically important strikes.

History

Antiquity

An early predecessor of the general strike may have been the secessio plebis in ancient Rome. In the Outline Of History, H.G. Wells recorded "the general strike of the plebeians; the plebeians seem to have invented the strike, which now makes its first appearance in history." Their first strike occurred because they "saw with indignation their friends, who had often served the state bravely in the legions, thrown into chains and reduced to slavery at the demand of patrician creditors."

Wells noted that "[t]he patricians made a mean use of their political advantages to grow rich through the national conquests at the expense not only of the defeated enemy, but of the poorer plebeian..." The plebeians, who were expected to obey the laws, but were not allowed to know the laws (which patricians were able to recite from memory), were successful, winning the right to appeal any injustice to the general assembly. In 450 BC., in a concession resulting from the rebellion of the plebeians, the laws of Rome were written for all to peruse.

1842 General Strike

The 1842 General Strike, also known as the Plug Plot Riots, started among the miners in Staffordshire, England, and soon spread through Britain affecting factories, mills in Yorkshire, Lancashire and coal mines from Dundee to South Wales and Cornwall.

The strike was influenced by the Chartist movement - a mass working class movement from 1838-1848. After the second Chartist Petition was presented to Parliament in May 1842, Stalybridge contributed 10,000 signatures. After the rejection of the petition the first general strike began in the coal mines of Staffordshire. The second phase of the strike originated in Stalybridge.

A movement of resistance to the imposition of wage cuts in the mills, also known as the Plug Riots, it spread to involve nearly half a million workers throughout Britain and represented the biggest single exercise of working class strength in nineteenth century Britain. On 13 August 1842 there was a strike at Bayley's cotton mill in Stalybridge, and roving cohorts of operatives carried the stoppage first to the whole area of Stalybridge and Ashton, then to Manchester, and subsequently to towns adjacent to Manchester including Preston, using as much force as was necessary to bring mills to a standstill. The Preston Strike of 1842 resulted in a riot where four men were shot on 13 August at Lune Street. The West Riding of Yorkshire saw disturbances at Bradford, Huddersfield and Hunslet. At least six people died in a riot at Halifax.

Belgian general strike of 1893

The general strike of 1893 (French: grève générale de 1893, Dutch: algemene staking van 1893) was a major general strike in Belgium called by the Belgian Labour Party (POB–BWP) in April 1893 in favour of the introduction of universal male suffrage. The general strike was the first called in Belgium and a decisive moment for the nascent POB–BWP. According to Carl J. Strikwerda, it was the first general strike in the history of Europe.

Strike

The general strike was called on the evening of 11 April 1893 after politicians of Catholic and Liberal parties joined to block a proposal to expand the suffrage. and lasted between 12-18 April. Conservatives, led by the Catholic Prime Minister Auguste Beernaert, feared a full revolution and clashes broke out between strikers and the military. According to Henri Pirenne, the strike was only called under pressure from the miners of the Borinage and its rapid spread took the POB–BWP leadership, under Emile Vandervelde, by surprise. Between 13 and 20 strikers were killed. In total, 200,000 workers participated in the strike. In the face of determined opposition, Parliament caved to the Socialist demands and introduced the original reforms, increasing the franchise ten-fold.