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Trade Union militancy must bear the main responsibility for the General Strike
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History Essay – Interwar Britain
“Trade Union militancy must bear the main responsibility for the General Strike”
From the 3rd to the 12th of May 1926 Britain experienced its first and so far only General Strike. The General Strike began with a Miner’s Strike, but this spread through other industries by way of sympathetic strikes. The strike was called by the TUC and coordinated by them during its course. The strike ended in defeat for the miners on account of betrayal by a member of the TUC who misled the TUC through government negotiations.
The causes of the general strike come from the events of the immediate post-war political and economic scene. ... During this period the trade unions became particularly active, with 35 million working days lost in 1919, rising to 85 million in 1921. ... Public dissent at the lack of progress grew and with it the trade unions became more active. ... During a strike in Glasgow the red flag of communism had been flown and troops used to quash the strikers. The trade unions in Britain almost all supported the Labour party, but there was concern that some of the more radical unions, such as the railway workers and the boilermakers had political leanings further to the left, in the direction of communism. The trade unions had been becoming progressively more militant in the decade preceding the strike. ... Many more people were becoming members of unions, with over half the workforce being a member of a union by 1921. ... The TUC could call the respective unions out on strike as it saw fit. ... In times when there are a great many people looking for work then a strike is less effective because the workers can be fired and replaced quite easily by the management. The trade unions have to be more careful about their actions. In the time before the general strike there were 2 million unemployed, partly as a result of markets being lost during the war. The trade unions became frustrated with the lack of influence they had and this resulted in some of their members becoming more radical.
The centre of the general strike was the mineworkers union. In the years running up to the general strike there had been many calls for improvements in the conditions of the mineworkers and also their pay. ... This also gave the mining union a great deal of power, as without its cooperation the British economy would suffer.
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Paper Information
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Title: Trade Union militancy must bear the main responsibility for the General Strike
Words: 1978
Rating: None
Pages: 7.9
submitted by: joegosden
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