Salford General Strike (1926)

Mon May 03, 1926

Image

On this day in 1926, a general strike in England involving approximately 1.7 million workers was initiated by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in response to coal mine owners proposing reductions in pay for miners the previous year.

The general strike was broad in scope, including workers from mines, shipyards, mills, and engineers.

Striking dock workers firmly refused to allow any movement of goods on the docks, causing a bread shortage. In response, the government tried to forcibly move flour and grain to bakeries, but were prevented from doing so by the mill workers and dockers.

During the strike, there were clashes between police and crowds in many areas and at least 4,000 workers were arrested. There were attacks on busses and trains, including the derailing of the Flying Scotsman.

The strike was called off by the TUC on May 12th with no guarantees of fair treatment for the miners, whose strike was defeated in October later that year. The following year, the 1927 Trades Disputes and Trade Unions Act was passed, forbidding sympathetic strikes and mass picketing. Civil Service unions were also forbidden to affiliate with the TUC.