Black Friday (1921)

Last updated

Black Friday, in British labour history, refers to 15 April 1921, when the leaders of transport and rail unions announced a decision not to call for strike action in support of the miners. [1] The epithet 'black' derives from a widespread feeling amongst labour radicals that the decision amounted to a breach of solidarity and a betrayal of the miners. [2] [3]

Contents

Black Friday caused the 1921 United Kingdom census which had been planned for 24 April pushed back to June. [4]

Triple Alliance

In the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th century, increasing efforts were made to bring about amalgamations of small, local trade unions and to forge links between different organisations, with a view to securing united action. The National Transport Workers' Federation was created in 1910 to co-ordinate the actions of trade unions representing dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and others and in 1912 the National Union of Railwaymen was created as an amalgamation of a large number of local and sectional organisations representing rail workers. In 1914, the rail and transport unions came together with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain to form the Triple Alliance. Although the agreements did not constitute a binding agreement, the formation of the alliance was recognised as a vehicle for united action by the largest and most powerful industrial groups.

Mining crisis, March 1921

In the aftermath of the First World War, the Triple Alliance and united action in general were regarded by many trade unionists as a defence against the threat of wage reductions occasioned by the onset of economic depression. A complicating factor was that both the coal industry and railways had been controlled by the state during the war and were not immediately returned to private hands. The Coalition-Liberal Government of David Lloyd George was unwilling to impose wage reductions, as this would provoke strike action against the government, with political implications. Reductions for miners were postponed until the industry was de-controlled on 31 March 1921. Miners who refused to accept the reductions were locked out of employment.

Decision

Following the imposition of the reductions, it was widely expected that the transport and rail unions would strike in support of the miners. However, on 15 April, the executives of the NTWF and NUR announced that they would not recommend strike action. One reason cited by the union leaders was that the miners' representatives had made comments suggesting that they, themselves, were not prepared to strike against the reductions. More broadly, transport and rail union leaders accused the MFGB of expecting support from other unions but refusing to involve those unions in negotiations over the dispute. The principal seamen's union, the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union held a ballot which resulted in the proposal for strike action being defeated by 59 votes.

Aftermath

Despite the decision against fully-fledged strike action, transport and railworkers were ordered not to handle imported coal. Some workers were unhappy with this limited action. In Glasgow, for example, the Scottish Union of Dock Labourers broke with the policy of the Transport Workers' Federation and called its members out on strike on 7 May. On the same day, wage reductions were imposed on merchant seamen, leading to a well-supported general strike at the docks which lasted for over a month. Transport and rail leaders were widely criticised for their actions, with J. H. Thomas of the NUR and Robert Williams of the NTWF being singled out for particular criticism. For their part, union leaders pointed to the difficulties of resisting the wage reductions in a period which had a lot of unemployment, alleged that there was little support for sympathy action amongst rank-and-file dockers and railwaymen and argued that the involvement of other workers would only lead to needless sacrifices on their part.[ citation needed ] Williams was expelled from the Communist Party following this. [5]

In 1925, when the government agreed to grant a temporary subsidy to the mining industry so as to avoid wage reductions, the day on which the decision was announced became known as Red Friday , in imitation of Black Friday. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

1926 United Kingdom general strike Coal miner strike in the United Kingdom in May 1926

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 government to act to prevent wage reductions and worsening conditions for 1.2 million locked-out coal miners. Some 1.7 million workers went out, especially in transport and heavy industry. The government was prepared, and enlisted middle class volunteers to maintain essential services. There was little violence and the TUC gave up in defeat.

Bob Crow

Robert Crow was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death. He was also a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). A self-described "communist/socialist", he was a leading figure in the No to EU – Yes to Democracy campaign.

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen British trade union

The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) is a British trade union representing train drivers. It is part of the International Transport Workers' Federation and the European Transport Workers' Federation. At the end of 2018 ASLEF had 22,424 members. Its current General Secretary is Mick Whelan.

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a British trade union covering the transport sector. It is currently presided by Michelle Rodgers and its current general secretary is Mick Lynch.

J. H. Thomas British politician

James Henry Thomas, sometimes known as Jimmy Thomas or Jim Thomas, was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician. He was involved in a political scandal involving budget leaks.


The British Seafarers' Union (BSU) was a trade union which organised sailors and firemen in the British ports of Southampton and Glasgow between 1911/1912 and 1922. Although of considerable local importance, the organisation remained much smaller and less influential at a national level than the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, (NSFU).

National Union of Seamen


The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

National Union of Railwaymen Trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom


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.

The National Transport Workers' Federation (NTWF) was an association of British trade unions. It was formed in 1910 to co-ordinate the activities of various organisations catering for dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and road transport workers.

The Triple Alliance was an alliance of British trade unions: the Miners Federation of Great Britain, the National Union of Railwaymen and the National Transport Workers' Federation.

Robert Williams (trade union leader)

Robert Williams was a British trade union organiser.

Emergency Powers Act 1920 United Kingdom legislation

The Emergency Powers Act 1920 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave the Sovereign power, in certain circumstances, to declare a state of emergency by proclamation. The Act also authorised emergency regulations to be issued by Order in Council.

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 England, Scotland and Wales whose associations remained largely autonomous. At its peak, the federation represented nearly one million workers. It was reorganised into the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945.

On Friday 31 July 1925 the British government agreed to the demands of the Miners Federation of Great Britain 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 followed nine months later.

James Knapp was a British trades unionist. He was successively General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) from 1983, and then of the merged National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 1990 to his death in 2001. He served on the executive board of the International Transport Workers' Federation from 1983 to 2001, the General Council of the Trades Union Congress from 1983 to 2001, and was President of the Trades Union Congress in 1994.

Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants

The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom from 1872 until 1913.

Frank Hodges (trade unionist)

Frank Hodges was an English trade union leader, who became General Secretary of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. A Member of Parliament (MP) for one year, he was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in the first Labour Government.

The history of trade unions in the United Kingdom covers British trade union organisation, activity, ideas, politics, and impact, from the early 19th century to the present.

The Leith dockers strike of 1913 was a strike of the dockers of Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, from 26 June to 14 August 1913. The Dockers were part of the National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) union. The strike is said to have brought Leith to a standstill.

The National Union of Rail Workers of Australia (NUR) was an Australian trade union representing railway industry workers which operated from 1938 until 1993.

References

  1. ↑ "Black Friday and the TUC". The National Archives. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  2. ↑ Fitzgerald, Ross (1997). The People's Champion, Fred Paterson: Australia's Only Communist Party Member of Parliament. University of Queensland Press.
  3. ↑ History+ for Edexcel A Level: Democracies in change: Britain and the USA in the twentieth century. Hodder Education. 2015. ISBN   978-1471837685.
  4. ↑ "The 1921 Census" . Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Williams, Robert", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  6. ↑ National Archive, The Cabinet Papers, Strike build up
  7. ↑ Renshaw, Patrick (6 June 1971). "Black Friday, 1921". History Today. London. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.