1919 United Kingdom railway strike
The 1919 United Kingdom railway strike was an industrial dispute that lasted from midnight 26–27 September to 5 October 1919. The strike was called to prevent the government from reducing rates of pay that had been negotiated by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) and the NUR during the First World War and to standardize pay rates for different grades of employment.[1][2] After nine days of strike action, the government agreed to maintain wages until September 1920 and to complete wage negotiations before the end of the year.[3][4]
Background
[edit]First World War
[edit]During the First World War, the United Kingdom experienced wartime inflation.[5] The cost of living drastically increased, with food prices rising substantially between 1914 and 1916.[6] Railway workers were especially affected by the war. Rising inflation caused real incomes to drop while workloads increased due to wartime mobilization. In 1914, a truce had been negotiated between unions and railway companies, forestalling discussions of wage increases until the end of the war.[7] However, by 1915, many workers were having difficulty affording basic provisions.[8]
In order to meet the needs of the workers, union organizers pushed for a "war bonus" from companies. This war bonus would be nationally negotiated, bypassing the need for unions to broker agreements with individual companies. They originally called for 5s a week, with the assurance that the government would cover 75% of the cost of the bonus. The companies, meanwhile, called for 2s a week. Ultimately, the two sides brokered a deal where workers whose rate was less than 30s a week would receive 3s while workers whose rate was greater than 30s would receive 2s. Further negotiations took place over the course of the war. By its end, the war bonus, reimagined as a "war wage," had been increased to 33s for adult men, with smaller increases for women and boys.[9][10]
Post-war developments
[edit]During the war, the government had controlled most aspects of the economy, including industry, extraction, and agriculture. It also directly set food prices via the Ministries of Food Control and Agriculture.[11] However, after the war ended in 1918, the government began to remove controls on prices and wages that it had introduced during the war. This led to an increase in inflation.[12]
In order to safeguard the gains made by workers during the war, the NUR and the ASLEF presented a program to the government in November 1918. This program included demands for the conversion of war wages into real wages, standardized service conditions across railways, equal representation for railway workers and employers on matters of railway management, and an eight-hour workday. The government acquiesced to the demand for an eight-hour day in January 1919, with the new hours becoming effective in February. Wages were also stabilized by an agreement reached in March, which precluded wage reductions until the end of the year.[3]
Negotiations continued throughout the year, with payment structures for different grades of employment being the primary point of contention.[3] While the government was willing to grant substantial wage increases to locomotive drivers, they were not willing to do so for porters, conductors, and other railway workers. Negotiations broke down in September, with a telegram calling for a strike going out from Eustom station on September 26.[2]
Strike
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26 September-28 September
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The strike began at midnight on 26-27 September 1919, with both the NUR and the ASLEF participating. Strike leaders included J. H. Thomas, general secretary of the NUR; Charlie Cramp, president of the NUR; and John Bromley, general secretary of the ASLEF.[13] Prime Minister David Lloyd George responded to the strike by canceling an address he had planned for the town council in Caernarfon and condemning the strike leaders, accusing them of acting without the approval of the rank and file and of being tied to an anarchist conspiracy.[14] Meanwhile, the unions touted the response from their members, which they said went "beyond all expectations." Train service was slowed or suspended across the country, with major disruptions on all lines except the Metropolitan.[15][16]
Soon after the strike began, a special strike committee was appointed, consisting of Minister of Transport Eric Geddes, War Secretary Winston Churchill, and Minister of Labour Robert Horne.[17] Meanwhile, the Ministry of Food Control responded to the strike by bringing into effect the "Divisional Food Commissions Order," which allowed the ministry to take control of "all horses and road vehicles" for the transport of goods. The ministry also introduced price controls; restricted the consumption of flour, milk, butchers' meat, sugar, and bread in pubs; and stipulated that "no person could acquire any article of food so that the quantity of such article at one time exceeded that required for ordinary use."[18]
Many newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Times, the Morning Post, and the Daily Graphic were critical of the strike in its early days, with the exception being the Daily Herald. It argued that:
Nobody likes striking. Nobody strikes lightly. Nobody faces what is involved in a great national stoppage of an essential industry with any but the heaviest sense of responsibility.[19][20]
29 September-October 1
[edit]
By 29 September, train service had improved considerably throughout the country, though it was still greatly reduced relative to before the strike due to a lack of drivers and signalmen.[21] In order to mitigate staffing shortages, the government put out a call for volunteers to work in various positions on the railways, including as drivers, signalmen, porters, and firemen. Some also worked in non-railway positions, including as lorry drivers and pilots. Volunteers included ex-railway employees, soldiers, and members of the titled aristocracy.[16][22]
While police were well-positioned to prevent disturbances during the strike, there were a few instances of confrontation.[23] On 29 September, Scottish Command reported that strikers had stopped two trains, injured a fireman, and pulled the engine driver from one of the trains. On 1 October, several incidents were reported, including an assault on an engine driver in Lanarkshire, the vandalism of a signal lamp in Nostell, and another assault on an engine driver in Glasgow.[24]
On 30 September, strike leader Thomas held a meeting at Clapham Common where he indicated that he would not call any other unions into the strike. The next day, another meeting took place including representatives from various other labour organizations, where it was decided that the unions would send a deputation to negotiate terms with the government.[25]
Some newspapers began to report more positively on the strike during this time, partially due to pressure from the Labour Research Department (LRD) and partially due to the threat of a printers' strike in sympathy with the railway workers. The Daily Sketch and Machester Guardian both devoted positive coverage to the strike and the Daily News ran an article under Thomas's signature.[14]
Aftermath and legacy
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References
[edit]- ^ "Circular: National negotiations". mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk. NUR. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ a b Bagwell 2022, pp. 377-386
- ^ a b c "The Railway Strike". The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs. 10 (37): 30–54. 1919. doi:10.1080/00358531909412239. ISSN 0035-8533.
- ^ Bagwell 2022, pp. 398
- ^ "Walking wounded: The British economy in the aftermath of World War I". CEPR. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Benson, Nicholas P. (2015). "First Food Policy and Voluntary Rationing". Sweet Tea: The British Working Class, Food Controls, and The First World War (Honor's thesis). College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University. p. 26. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Raynes 1921, pp. 172-173
- ^ Bagwell 2022, pp. 344-347
- ^ Bagwell 2022, pp. 348-349
- ^ Raynes 1922, pp. 174-229
- ^ Tawney, R. H. (1943). "The Abolition of Economic Controls, 1918-1921". The Economic History Review. 13 (1/2): 1. doi:10.2307/2590512.
- ^ Butler-Brown, Clemmie (5 August 2022). "The National Railway Strike, October 1919". Hornsey Historical Society. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ Raynes 1922, pp. 271-272
- ^ a b Beers, Laura (2010). "'Is This Man an Anarchist?' Industrial Action and the Battle for Public Opinion in Interwar Britain". The Journal of Modern History. 82 (1): 30–60. doi:10.1086/650506. ISSN 0022-2801.
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 23-24
- ^ a b Bagwell 2022, pp. 387-388
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, p. 43
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 54-55
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 69-70
- ^ "The Strike". Daily Herald. 27 September 1919. Retrieved 18 September 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 24-27
- ^ Edgcombe 2018 pp. 47-49
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, p. 45
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 59-61
- ^ Edgcombe 2018, pp. 22-23
Sources and further reading
[edit]- Bagwell, Philip S. (29 November 2022). The Railwaymen: Volume 1: The History of the National Union of Railwaymen. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003358220. ISBN 978-1-003-35822-0.
- Edgcombe, Joshua (21 June 2018). The 1919 Railway Strike: the Government’s Response (Master's thesis). University of Hertfordshire. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- Raynes, John R. (1921). . Leeds: Goodall & Suddick – via Wikisource.
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