Following a lockout of coal miners on April 30^th, the Trades Union Congress called a “general strike” of printers, iron and steel, gas and electricity, and building workers from midnight of May 3^rd. Engineering and shipbuilding workers came out in support on May 11^th bringing the total on strike to around 3m workers (out of the 5m who were affiliated to the Trades Union Congress). The government of Stanley Baldwin used the armed forces and civilian volunteers to maintain essential services, and hostility to the strike was both widespread and evident so it was called off after a mere nine days on May 14^th. The miners, however, stayed on strike through the winter of 1926-27.

Many …

426 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "General Strike". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 April 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=461, accessed 23 November 2024.]