The General Strike 1926

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The General Strike

This was a 9 day long strike in 1926. It set off an era of striking and this is what marks it's importance.

It started over a dispute between mine workers and mine owners. The owners thought people could get cheaper coal from abroad and had thought this since before World War I. During the World War I the government took over control of the mines and the workers were well paid and happy. They thought this would continue after the war but control was given back to the mine owners. The owners wanted to cut pay and make the miners work longer hours.

The Samuel Commission in April 1925 was set up by the government to attempt to sort out the problems. It found that the miners shouldn't be working longer hours and should be working in better conditions but that a pay cut was necessary. Mine workers were unhappy about the pay cut and so wouldn't agree. The mine owners also wouldn't agree as they wanted the miners to work longer hours.

Middle class England were scared of a strike as they thought it would have caused a communist





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