In 1926, Britain erupted as over a million workers launched a nine-day General Strike to support coal miners facing wage cuts and harsh conditions. Workers brought the country to a standstill in a showdown between labour and power that shook the nation. MML holds a large amount of historical material connected to the General Strike in our collections showing activity of trade unionists, the government and employers before during and after the strike itself, and demonstrating the huge impact the strike had on the country and the labour movement.

General Strike Collection

The General Strike Collection is made up of material created during the strike by the trade unions, local groups and employers. In particular it shows the activities of local Councils of Action formed to coordinate the labour movement during the strike. It includes a number of national and local newspapers, produced as small, more basic bulletins by strike breakers as print unions had joined the General Strike, forcing the press to a near standstill. Amongst the strike editions of the regular press, the collection also contains copies of newspapers created specifically for the strike - The British Gazette, produced by the government, and The British Workers, produced by the TUC. It also includes strike bulletins from around the country in support of the strike, created by Councils of Action and other local groups, and the Communist Party of Great Britain. 

Communist Party of Great Britain

These publications are complimented by our CPGB Collection, which contains rank-and-file bulletins produced by the party and National Minority Movement in local workplaces from 1925 and 1926. Of particular interest are railway worker publications "The Spur" and "The Signal", produced during the strike itself and including calls for workers defence corps and a cartoon of fascists and employers collaborating against workers.

In the year running up to the strike, twelve leading Communist Party members were arrested and imprisoned under the Mutiny Act for articles published in the Workers' Weekly. The library holds pamphlets giving the defence speeches of three of the arrested - Willie Gallacher, J.R. Campbell and Harry Pollitt - as well as a publication by the Home Office listing the documents seized by police after the arrests. The library also holds ephemera from the trial including a postcard of the twelve defendents, and an uncatalogued souvenir programme for the release of Wal Hannington and other prisoners, autographed by a number of prominent members of the labour movement.

International Class War Prisoners Aid

International Class War Prisoners Aid (ICWPA) was the British section of International Red Aid and was active in supporting those imprisoned as a result of the strike. A collection of photos from the ICWPA offices is included in the uncatalogued Sarah Lovell Collection and show demonstrations at Trafalgar Square in support of imprisoned strikers addressed by A.J. Cook.

The pamphlet, ICWPA at Work reproduces a speech by George Lansbury on the work of the ICWPA in supporting prisoners from the strike, including the twelve Communist Party members. A report from their first national congress held in December 1926 also outlines the aid given to prisoners around the country.

Newspapers

Our periodical collection includes socialist newspapers from the time which report on the strike and its preparations. This includes the CPGB newspaper Workers' Weekly, as well as Young Worker by the YCL, and the communist youth paper Young Comrade. During the strike, Workers' Weekly was unable to publish as normal due to striking printworkers, and instead a smaller bulletin called Workers' Press was produced by the Party, incorporating its usual paper. We also hold copies of Lansbury's Labour Weekly, produced by George Lansbury and which includes his recommendations to the TUC on preparation in the run up to the strike.

Photos

The MML Photographic Collection also holds a number of photos taken during the strike. While the photos are mostly of the strike in London, others from around the country are also included. The collection shows demonstrations of striking workers, as well as activity by strike breaking volunteers in the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies, and repression by the police and army.

Publications

Our library collection holds a number of publications from before and after the strike, including reflections by significant figures involved.

Printworkers

Printworkers played an important role in the General Strike by refusing the print copies of the Daily Mail condemning the miners’, with the printers walk out sparking the TUC to call the strike more widely. The Printworkers Collection holds a file of papers on the strike, with negotiations between employers and unions on the return to work, and associated notes by a union official at the time. A collection on the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers contains a back to work agreement following the strike, and a minute book for “The People” Clerical Chapel includes references to the strike.