1919-1926

• .1. After WW1- unemployment rising and wages declining in British coal industry
• 2. Owners failed to invest in new technology- lack of productivity - wages cut
• 3. Government set up Commissions between 1919-1925. They recommended that mines be nationalised
• 4. 1920 - Triple Alliance - National Union of Railwaymen, Transport and General Workers Union and Miners Federation of Great Britain = provide mutual support
• 5. Many strikes in 1920s - not successful + returned to work. Unions fell out many times
• 6. 1925 - coal mine owners tried to cut wages by 10% - offset loss of income from production
• 7. PM Stanley Baldwin agreed to subsidy - funding for current wages to stay the same . Chancellor of the Exchequer Churchill was unhappy
• 8. Samuel Commission Report March 1926 - recommended ending to subsidy and pay reductions to nationalise the industry- making it competitive
• 9. Caused miners Federation to take stance
• 10. TUC - Trade Union Congress - umbrella organisation for all trade unions - often the voice between unions and government
• 11. TUC conference - 1 May 1926 - a general strike was planned
• 12. Print workers refused to print an edition of Daily Mail attacking miners, negotiations fell. General Strike took place for 9 days