On Friday 31 July 1925 the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

agreed to the demands of the

Miners Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in Engla ...

to provide a subsidy to the mining industry to maintain miners' wages. The '' Daily Herald'' called this day Red Friday; a union defeat four years earlier had been called " Black Friday". The

1926 General Strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

followed nine months later.

Background

There had been a long history of labour unrest in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

industry. A triple alliance had been formed in 1914 of the Miners Federation, the

Transport and General Workers Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

and the

National Union of Railwaymen The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement. History The NUR was an industrial union ...

, for mutual support in trade disputes, but had been unable to undertake united action due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1916, at the height of

, Lloyd George's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

had taken control of the industry, but with

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

the purchasing power of miners' wages had fallen. After the war government control was relaxed, and the triple alliance was revived. In 1919, as a conciliatory measure, the government appointed a royal commission to investigate the industry under Mr Justice Sankey, which recommended the nationalisation of mining royalties but did not explain how this would be achieved. The government, citing the lack of unanimity of the commission, declined to implement its report. The government responded to a strike by the Yorkshire miners in July 1919 by planning measures to maintain the mines during the strike. In April 1921 the miners went on strike, seeking equalisation of wages between coalfields, but the unity of the triple alliance collapsed, leaving the miners to fight on until hunger drove them back to work on Black Friday, leaving the employers (who had come together in the Mining Association) in control. There was a small concession to the miners of a temporary subsidy of £10M, but their average pay fell by 30% during 1921.

Red Friday

In April 1925 Britain returned to the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...

. This was effectively a revaluation of sterling, and led to deflation in the British economy over the following years. This made it difficult for the coal owners to export coal profitably in the face of resurgent German exports. On 30 June the Mining Association gave notice to terminate the 1924 wage agreement, after which wages would be cut (with no national minimum) and hours increased. Negotiations took place, but it was soon apparent that, without a subsidy, a strike or lock-out was inevitable. The miners had secured an agreement from the railwaymen that they would not handle coal. This was likely to result in the railway companies sacking those who refused, leading to a railway strike. The government reviewed emergency arrangements and Prime Minister Baldwin concluded, "We were not ready". In consequence the government backed down, and negotiated a subsidy for the coal industry to last nine months to enable the employers to maintain wages and conditions. This cost £23M. It seems that an emergency plan existed on paper, but would require the recruitment of many volunteers to implement it, and the staff did not exist.

Reaction

The subsidy could only be a temporary measure. The government immediately put in hand measures to be implemented in the event of a general strike, which seemed inevitable when the subsidy ended.

Notes

References

* {{cite book , last=Renshaw , first=Patrick , title=Nine days in May : the general strike , publication-place=London , publisher=Eyre Methuen , date=1975 , isbn=0-413-33260-8 , oclc=1584735 1925 in the United Kingdom Labour disputes in the United Kingdom Miners' labor disputes History of mining in the United Kingdom 1925 in politics Subsidies 1925 in labor relations July 1925 events