Black Friday (1921)
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]
Black Friday caused the 1921 United Kingdom census, which had been planned for 24 April, to be 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
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
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]
References
- ^ "Black Friday and the TUC". The National Archives. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Ross (1997). The People's Champion, Fred Paterson: Australia's Only Communist Party Member of Parliament. University of Queensland Press.
- ISBN 978-1471837685.
- ^ "The 1921 Census". Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ National Archive, The Cabinet Papers, Strike build up
- ^ Renshaw, Patrick (6 June 1971). "Black Friday, 1921". History Today. London. Retrieved 9 April 2016.