The Causes And Consequences Of The General Strike In 1926 Essays

Because of the rising change of social and industry they kind of caused friction towards political views. Miners and steelworkers were the first workers to use the strike ad a bargaining tool against their business owners.

The general strike of May 1926 was not a success for those attempting to force the government to act to prevent wage reductions and worsening conditions for coal miners. Had the TUC been more prepared to strike and followed through with what the miners wanted them to do, the government would have been faced with a much tougher challenge. Despite this, even if the conservative government were faced with a tougher challenge, the preparations and subsequence actions taken by them were more than enough and the main reason for the failure of the strike.

After the war, Canadian factories that manufactured war supplies were permanently closed. This produced a lot of unemployment and bankruptcy. The cost to live was increasing dramatically and many people (who were still employed) could not compete with the inflation.(CBC, N/A, 1). WW1 veterans who had returned home after the war found that the wages were far too low.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 1). Some people wished to be employed, while others wished for better working conditions.(CBC, N/A, 2). On May 15, 1919, metal and building workers and the trades and labor council declared a strike. In a few hours, 30,000 left their jobs to participate in the strike.(Reilly, 2006, 3). One Big Union (OBG) was designed to speak for the workers.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 1). The House Of Commons had modified the Immigration Act so that any individual who was not born in Canada would be deported.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 2). The government feared that this strike would create a revolution, so they interfered. Workers were told to either go back to work or be fired.(Reilly, 2006, 6). On June 21, 1919, otherwise known as Bloody Saturday many people engaged in a silent protest. 2 people were killed that day and many sustained injuries. Several of the union leaders were arrested.(School Work Helpers, 2016, 2). Strike leaders were afraid that more people would be killed so on June 25, they went back to work.(Reilly, 2006, 3).

There was a clear divide between bosses and workers which led to a certain level of disdain between the two; a disdain that could be set off very easily by the actions of one another. Businesses were booming and economy was expanding, so business owners had to find a way to stay in business and not let other companies take over. To do this, they often resorted to cutting wages or even lockouts. The lockouts forced workers to either quit or agree to a pay cut, but only cutting wages gave workers reason to strike. This greed from both sides caused conflict which sometimes led to violence. As strikes went on, strikers and bosses became more desperate. Strikers resorted to violence and bosses called in higher authorities-strikes were declared illegal, militias were sent in, and people got hurt. As a result of The Great Upheaval, 100 people died and 1,000 others were imprisoned (37a. The Great Upheaval). Although strikes almost never turned out the way they

The Railroad Shop Workers Strike of 1922 affected everyone in the country. This strike occurred because of the pay cut of seven cents to the wages of the railroad workers. Approximately 400,000 rail shop workers from various unions were on strike because the cut was announced by the railroad labor board. When

Labor union history began when the National Labor Union (NLU) was founded in 1866. After the creation of this union, several followed after. Many riots occurred during this time, the Haymarket Riot was one of the main reasons that the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was created. The AFL will be a major part in the labor movement in the future. Labor unions began due to the need to protect the workers. These labor unions formed to fight for reasonable hours, better pay, and safer working conditions. These stipulations that the labor unions pushed for did not come from greed. Many laborers were dying from different jobs. People were required to work 12 or more hour days, 7 days a week for such a small amount of pay. Due to the overworking of these laborers, it caused them to make mistakes. Not only were companies over working these people, they were hiring inexperienced people with little to no training. Thousands upon thousands of people died because of this. To prevent this from occurring labor unions were created to ne the barrier between a company and the workers, the unions are there to help negotiate any stipulations the workers may request. However, after the early to mid 1900’s the attendance and membership of unions declined drastically.

This happen in October of 1902, in eastern Pennsylvania. This happened because there was a conflict between labor and capital. President Roosevelt invited the coal miners' union representatives and the mine owners to meet at the White House to settle the Coal Strike of 1902. Roosevelt want to end the strike because the nation needed coal to provide heat for the coming winter. When the two sides refused to negotiate, he threatened to use soldiers to man the mines during the strike. The loss of money scared both sides making them come up with a compromise. The coal miners knew they would lose wages while the soldiers were operating the mines. The owner of the coal mine knew that they also would not make any money, and so they agreed on a

Although the 19th century brought about many injunctions and antitrust laws prohibiting union activity, the early 20th century would bring hope to laborers and ultimately be known as the labor’s greatest strides toward unification and legal protection. One of the first examples of progress was during World War I. Due to so much unrest between the managers and laborers, a widespread of fear engulfed the United States. Most were afraid that a shutdown of the railroads was imminent which would create a threat to national security. In 1916, the government decided to intervene and take control of the railroads (Federal Possession and Control Act) in the event a strike was initiated. This action would allow soldiers to step in and replace any striking workers. This became one of the first legislation to construct some sort of union but ended in 1920 and the railroads were handed back to their owners

With poor work conditions and an increase in standard of living, factory workers were faced with the challenge of surviving. Big companies continued to cut wages which were troublesome to the factory. They understood that by forming a union, they would be placed on a blacklist. They would mean no one would hire them. With the result of Great Railroad Strike in 19877, The Knight of Labor was formed and overturned wages cuts in 1885. However, rebellions, The Haymarket Riot and The Pullman Strike, continued and the Federal government became affected by this.

As an excuse to pocket more money, many business owners saw striking as a sign of supporting communism due to the Red Scare. Along with this, strikes were forbidden as everyone had to put the war effort in front of all other personal goals and complaints.

During World War I, an increase in strikes allowed employees to get higher wages and better conditions. However, after the war, unions started to weaken due to the unexpectedly high wages. The workers were expecting the low wages they had before the war. In addition, there was a decrease in unions because many soldiers who returned from the war wanted their old jobs back. While many of the soldiers did not get their jobs back, some individuals did because employers fired the workers who were trying to create a union. Also, the decline in unions in the 20s was caused by the cost of living as people were living a wealthy lifestyle, therefore, needing all the money they can get. If workers rebelled they would be fired from their jobs and lose

The Great Depression is the time when Americans changed their viewpoints toward unions. During that time, Americans were suffering from economic hardship. The government passed several laws to resolve the economic problems such as the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Miller). The National Labor Relations Act ensured that workers could join unions and protect their rights as employees. Workers can also bargain about their wages through union representatives. It effectively prevented workers from unfair labor practices.

The 1930's was a hard time for blacks. Blacks were hit harder hit than whites in the Great Depression. During the 1930s almost half of black Americans were out of work. Blacks really did not have a lot of rights, they could not vote, they could not sit in the same parts of restaurants or buses as white people. Blacks even had separate drinking fountains and bathrooms. Blacks had to use the back door of many building and not allowed to enter from the front. The civil rights movement of the 1930s changed a lot of things for blacks. The civil rights movement stopped most of the segregation in the south and gave blacks more rights.

the miners’ strike was caused by the massive pit closure programme that was introduced by

In return they were promised that the old arrangements would be resumed after the war. It was only a voluntary agreement, but in July 1915 the Munitions of War Act legally banded unions and the government and it outlawed strikes. In many ways, trade unionists made important gains during the war. The fact that government controlled so much of the industry led to a national, as opposed to local, wage agreements. However, after the war had ended, privatization was introduced again, and the staple industries were the ones who suffered more. This was followed by a wave of strikes. This industrial unrest worried the government which a feared a Bolshevik-type revolution.