Class Conflict and the National Strike, 1926

Baldwin's government

Baldwin's government was dubbed 'the rule of the old men', but the average age of the cabinet was no different from previous governments, and many were relatively newcomers to ministerial position. Baldwin wanted a quiet time, and it seemed that there were no great issues to stir up conflict — Ireland, votes for women, Tariff Reform were, for example, settled issues. The provision of social services was generally accepted by both sides, and Britain was edging towards the welfare state. Churchill reduced taxation to 4s in the pound (20%).

Unemployment and the Conservative Response

However, mass unemployment became a feature of the economic scenario during this period. Unemployment reached 2 million in 1921, and was at first explained as a cyclical trend; during 1924 and 1925 there was an economic recovery, and output reached the 1913 level in 1924 and was 10% higher than that in 1925. But structural unemployment became a feature, and even in 1925 there was over 1 million unemployed. The causes of this was the collapse of demand from the primary producing countries owing to the changes in the terms of trade, whilst there was over-production (and over-supply) in the export industries. Thinking was constrained at this time by tradition, and people believed that unemployment could only be cured by increased exports, and that this required a reduction in price, and this in turn required a reduction of wages. This analysis is now known to be faulty — since wages were lowest already in the export industries, and any further reductions would cause a depression of domestic demand, and hence worsen, not improve, the situation.

But Baldwin took the traditional view, stating on 30th July 1925 that 'All workers of this country have got to take reductions in wages to help put industry on its feet.' Naturally, this was opposed by the unions, but the opposition was not inspired by class hatred. Union leaders were skilled negotiators, not agitators and regarded strike action as a weapon of last resort. They were, like Ernst Bevin, willing to cooperate with employers in order to restructure industry for the common good, but they were not able to cooperate with a reduction of wages.

The Coal Industry

The pressure was most acute in the coal industry, which symbolised the class struggle. After 1921 the coal industry enjoyed a brief spell of revival, since European competition was diminished — supplies from Poland were disrupted, and supplies from Germany ceased during the occupation of the Rhur. There was a settlement favourable to the miners in 1925 during the period of the Labour government. But in 1926 Polish and German competition revived with a vengeance, and the owners proposed to lower wages and increase hours. The president of the miners' union, Herbert Smith, was not prepared to compromise, replying 'Nowt doing' to all suggestions, and the government was not prepared to arbitrate or assist the reorganisation of the industry. The TUC proposed to offer the miners their support provided they would be allowed to handle the negotiations, but this was not accepted by the miners, who expected the unconditional support of their fellow trade-unionists. The mine owners issued a notice on 30th June 1925 that the existing agreement would come to an end within one month's time. They offered reduced wages, which the miners rejected. They proposed a lock-out on 31st July. Just before the lock-out was due to commence, the government proposed a subsidy for nine months and a royal commission. This was accepted, and the commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Herbert Samuel, commenced. Meanwhile, the railwaymen and transport workers insisted that any action should not be born by them alone. The government became nervous, and the home-secretary, Joynson-Hicks, was convinced there was a communist plot. He organised the prosecution of 12 Communists for Incitement to Mutiny, who were all convicted and imprisoned, following a trial at the end of which the judge offered to set them free if they would renounce their political persuasion!

The National Strike

The royal commission reported on 11th March 1926 with the short-term recommendation for a reduction in wages! The long-term suggestion of reorganisation was rejected by the employers who proposed reduced wages and longer hours. Cook for the unions replied, 'Not a penny off the pay, not a minute on the day.' The lockout began on 1st May 1926. On 3rd May a special trade union conference gave approval for a national strike. However, the General Council of the Trade Unions Congress sought a compromise with the government in which miners would accept the changes to miners' wages provided the government accepted the Samuel report. The government used a refusal of print workers to set the Daily Mail as a pretext for breaking off negotiations, and this forced the general council to call a national strike. This was not planned as a general strike and selected industries — transport, railways, print, heavy industry, building, gas and electricity were called out in the first stage. The weapon of a transport strike was by this time muted by the development of road transport, which would enable the government to maintain essential services.

The response of the workers was overwhelming, a voluntary statement of solidarity with the miners. The strikers asked nothing for themselves. They did not seek to challenge the government, still less to overthrow the constitution. They wanted the miners to have a living wage. Government plans were also effective, and road transport worked well, also on a voluntary basis. There was no general violence, and troops were never deployed. Only 4,000 prosecutions for violence or incitement to violence ensued. In some places the police and strikers organised friendly football matches with each other! The trade union general council hoped the government would enter into negotiations over the coal industry, but when the government failed to do this, they were forced to retreat.

The government viewpoint that the strike was a threat to the constitution, predominated. Churchill was placed in charge of printing an official government paper, The British Gazette, which called the working classes 'the enemy'. The unions also printed a strike sheet called the British Worker. The BBC maintained some kind of independence, but only by voluntarily suppressing news that was hostile to the government! The archbishop of Canterbury and Lloyd George both made appeals for compromise, but these were ignored. George V resisted attempts to punish the unions — he played a moderating role throughout. The general council accepted a proposal from Herbert Samuel to impose the reduction in wages once the principle of reorganisation in the coal industry had been accepted, and the strike was called off. Although the offer did not officially come from the government, the general council expected that it would be enforced by public opinion.

Sequel to the Strike — The Miners

However, the miners carried on striking. There were some attempts to victimise active leaders of the strike, but the threat of prolonged conflict and real class war put a stop to this. Baldwin did offer to endorse the Samuel report, but the miners rejected it. The miners held out for a further six months, after which they were forced to return to work by starvation, accepting all the conditions imposed by the owners, including district agreements. Whilst the coal industry remained a giant industry it was in slow decline, and the owners' victory in 1926 ensured that the price should be paid by the miners, who had to work under inhuman conditions.

The government responded to backbench Conservative pressure to consolidate their victory over the unions. The Trade Disputes Act (1927) amended the Trades Disputes Act of 1906 and outlawed any sympathetic or politically motivated strike. It prohibited civil servants from joining a union affiliated to the TUC, and required individual union members to contract in to the payment of the political levy to Labour, rather than contract out. Such regulations were largely unnecessary, and the clause against sympathetic and political strikes was never used. It was an unnecessary act with no serious consequence and the trade unions had become too essential a part of society to be shaken by it.

Effects of the Strike

The failure of the national strike did not damage the trade unions in the long run. In the period after the strike membership fell to under 5 million for the first time since 1916, but this recovered later on. Days lost due to strike action fell from the pre-1916 average of 1 million to under 300,000. The national strike improved the prospects of the trade unions by bringing moderates like Bevin and Thomas into power within the movement. There was little downward pressure on wages elsewhere, although the cost of living index fell by 15% between 1926 and 1929, so the standard of living of the employed worker in 1929 was considerably better than ever before.

The strike also created more understanding between the classes, not less! Middle class volunteers during the strike learnt to appreciate the value of manual labour, and labour learnt that the middle classes were human beings. Contrary to the appearance of class war, the general strike marked the moment when class war ceased to shape the pattern of British industrial relations.

Thus, despite the National Strike of 1926, the period 1925-29 saw a lessening of conflict within British society, with the common ground between Conservative and Labour increasingly greater than what divided them. The majority of the working classes were in support of moderation.

Fragmentation of the Liberal Party

The general strike was a cause of further fragmentation in the Liberal party. Lloyd George had advocated negotiations with the unions, and was duly "punished" by Asquith, who was now Lord Oxford, by being excluded from the Liberal shadow cabinet. Apart from leaving Lloyd George in the wilderness, it also turned the Liberals into an imitation of the Conservative party, and left them without a distinct identity. But in October 1926 Asquith resigned as party leader, and Lloyd George took over. As leader, Lloyd George was generous with his private funds, and donated to the Liberal party over £400,000 between 1927 and 1929.