CALDERDALE DURING THE 1926 MINERS’ LOCKOUT AND GENERAL STRIKE

 

CALDERDALE DURING THE 1926 MINERS’ LOCKOUT AND GENERAL STRIKE

Mark Metcalf

Pre the strike

 In the Halifax Guardian Weekly dated 27 February 1926 there is a brief report on the activities of Halifax Trades and Industrial Council (HTIC) in 1925. Total income in 1925 was £102 6s 11d. It was reported that 1925 was the fifth year of the HTIC. The report makes reference to the successful strike by textile workers in 1925. ‘The year had been strenuous...the unemployment problem, owing to depression in trade, had had serious consideration...The textile dispute had their entire support, and they immediately formed a Council of Action, which, without doubt, did much useful work in assisting both by active propaganda and public meetings, towards the deserving victory of the workers.’

For more on the 1925 textile dispute in West Yorkshire see:- https://leedssocialistparty.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/prelude-to-the general-strike-the-wool-worsted-strike-90-years-on/

 The 1925 Textile Strike lasted just over three weeks and involved between 135,000 and 170,000 woollen and worsted workers across West Yorkshire. It was resolved only after Government intervention and it was widely viewed as a victory for the workers, who had been facing a reduction in wages.

Combined with a temporary solution to the coal crisis in 1925, the victory by the textile workers buoyed up the whole of the trade union movement.

The Trades Club, Halifax, had in March 1926 a total of 18,698 members, (I do not know if this is individual members or perhaps a figure relating to the number of members in branches that were affiliated to the Trades Club) a drop of 169 on the year. Income was just over £7,525 and of which £5,187 came from the sale of refreshments, largely alcohol. There was a loss of just under £2634 (£2,633 19s 1 d) with £388 14s 3d paid off the mortgage for the premises. These figures and the successful strike of the textile workers show that the trade union movement in the early part of 1926 clearly had some numbers and strength across Halifax and Calderdale.

For those unfamiliar with the 1926 General Strike then there is lots of information around including the following article on the BBC website:- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13828537

A much better article is at:- https://spartacus-educational.com/TUgeneral.htm

Also read work by Mark Metcalf at:- https://markwrite.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/lock_out_gs_booklet.pdf ‘NOT A MINUTE ON THE DAY, NOT A PENNY OFF THE PAY’ – THE 1926 MINERS’ LOCKOUT AND THE GENERAL STRIKE

First week of GENERAL STRIKE 1926

In 1842 it was the miners of Halifax who made the first call for a national union of mineworkers. Only weeks later the first ever General Strike came calling in Halifax (watch ‘BREAD NOT BAYONETS – HALIFAX 1842 on the dramatic events in which the authorities slaughtered local people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEA  but the miners themselves did not take part and over the following decades local mines were worked out and closed.

By 1926 there were no mines in Calderdale. Yet when the General Strike on 3 May 1926 started there was immediate solidarity action by local workers and there were no trains running with only a dozen staff turning up for work.

“The Halifax railway stations have been closed since Monday.’ ‘All others, including the railway clerks, are on strike...Even the clock at Halifax station had stopped!” reported the paper on May 8, 1926. ‘Strong pickets were on duty, but everything was quiet.’ 8/05/1926

It was reported that the engineering industry was little affected. The Halifax branch of the Typographical Association decided by a 2-1 vote not to resume work. This affected the operative staffs in the composing and machine departments of the “Courier and Guardian” office. The stereotyping department was already out. The paper also reported on the 8th of May that: ‘The response to the calls by the different unions to cease work has been general in this district; those so far affected, in addition to transport workers, including printers, wire workers, joiners, plumbers and members of the Workers’ Union, embracing many occupations.’

On Sunday 9 May 1926 ten thousand attended the mass meeting on Savile Park and ‘two platforms were provided and many speeches were delivered in support of the claims of the miners and workers generally’ as reported in the Halifax Courier and Guardian for Saturday May 15, 1926. The numbers present were the largest in many years.

The local Master Printers Association also backed the strike and stayed out throughout it.

At the firm of J. Blakeborough and sons, Brighouse, the response to the strike appears to have been  mixed, with some staying at work. A leaflet was handed out at the Halifax Unemployment Exchange and elsewhere appealing to all unemployed workers ‘not accept any instructions to sign on for any work now stopped by order of the Trade Union Congress Council.’

This would appear to show that when asked to support the General Strike the large majority did so in Calderdale.

More out on strike in second week

When the strike was called off the Courier welcomed the development and in a lengthy piece on 15 May reported: ’during the early part of the week more operatives were brought out on strike, but the majority returned to work when the general strike was called off.’

On the rail it was reported that ‘trouble arose with respect to the terms of re-engagement’ and there appears to have been some continuing actions by permanent way staff.

Organised opposition to strike

By the end of the strike the authorities had increased the number of Civil Constabulary Reserves to around 230 and several police pensioners were on duty in Halifax. Over 1,000 had volunteered to help the authorities in maintaining food supplies and a similar number (not sure if there is duplication here) had registered as special constables. The paper further reported that the appeal by trade union leaders for the preservation of order had with the exception of one incident at Wheatley on Thursday been observed. A strike breaking volunteer tramway driver Henry Metcalfe had alleged that he had been assaulted by 3 striking tramway workers. Herbert Ackroyd, Joseph Bottomley and Arnold Hall and, despite their solicitor contending that the trio had done far less than had been alleged they were all sent to prison for a month with hard labour and dismissed by their employers. (Yorkshire Evening Post 14 May 1926)

The calling off of the 1926 General Strike by the Trades Union Congress left the locked out miners to fight on alone until eventually poverty forced them to concede defeat later in the year.

Trade unionists in Calderdale continued to show solidarity with the miners and 700 people turned out for the late May Day march in 1926 and which ended with a rally at Victoria Hall with the main speakers being Darlington Labour MP Mr A L Shepherd and Miss F Hancock of Gloucester.

A meeting on Savile Park in June to support the Miners’ was badly attended due to prolonged, heavy rain. ‘A collection was taken on behalf of the miners’ wives and children.’

In conclusion the 1926 General Strike was well supported in Halifax and the Calder Valley. There were few incidents of disorder. The numbers on strike increased at the start of week two. At the same time the state was increasing its own organising abilities and clearly intended to frustrate ongoing activities. In addition the decision by the Trades Union Congress to call off solidarity action in support of the locked out miners was not defied by trade unionists themselves due to the absence of rank and file groups across the trade union movement and workplaces. It was to result in a catastrophic defeat.

 

Brief notes on sources of materials used for this article - there was a daily local paper at this time but, in fact, there was better information in the weekly paper that was published each Saturday and which was called the Halifax Courier and Guardian Weekly. The information is patchy and so this report cannot be taken as definitive.