The Revival of the Unions after WW1

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What did the 1919 Sankey commission recommend?
That the gov. retain control of the coal industry.
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What did the gov decide to do with the mines on 31st March 1921?
Return them to the former owners
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What did the mine owners subsequently do after control was handed back to them?
They reduced pay and locked out any miners who would not work for the lower rate
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How did the gov use the 1920 Emergency Powers act and why did they use it?
They used it to recall troops from Ireland and abroad and positioned them to quell any strikes as they feared the potential of the triple alliance to create large scale disruption
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Why wasn't the triple alliance a serious threat?
Ernest Bevin's transport workers and James Thomas' rail workers did not join the strike so the triple alliance collapsed. The miners struck on their own but were unable to sustain this
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What was the result of the miner's strike in 1921 (black Friday)?
It failed and miners were forced to accept significant wage decreases and return to work
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Were some consequences of Black Friday, 1921?
Weakened trade unions as threat of united front was a myth, marked an end to gov. involvement in pay and employment reforms (gov. maintained non-interventionist stance), put trade unions onto the defensive as opposed to agressive stance Clydeside
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What did employers in all industries do as a result of Black friday?
Forced down wages- lack of gov. support and collapse of triple alliance meant unions unable to prevent this
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What was the council of action?
A committee formed by trade union and Labour party for oranising political action
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Why was the council of action created?
In 1920 a war between Britain and Russia seemed possible and the socialists and trade unions were opposed to this as Russia was communist- they wanted to hold strikes to disrupt British production and raise awareness of the situation
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Why was the Council of Action important?
Raised tension between working and middle classes (they supported communism which was too radical for middle class), repaired damage of Black Friday by building loose network between trade unions and an infrastructure for organising strikes
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What did a gov investigation into the councils of action show?
That they were not sufficiently well organised to pose a real revolutionary threat and the gov took them less seriously. When russio-polish war ended they lacked real purpose and posed no threat to gov.
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What was the Amalgamated Engineering Union and when was it formed?
An alliance of nine smaller engineering organisations formed around an older organisation. Formed in 1921
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What were the strengths of the AEU?
The members were all skilled craftsmen abd they could afford to pay one shilling per week- making the AEU financially stable (they could fund strikes) which discouraged employers from getting into conflict with them
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What was significance of the formation of the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1922?
It was the largest union, formed from 14 unions representing 350,000 workers. It was unusual as it had a particularly wide range of trades e.g dock and road workers but also clerical and administrative workers
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Why did smaller unions dislike the amalgamated unions and what did they continue to do?
They saw them as removing the independence of individual trade unions. Smaller unions met in councils of action to represent workers in their locality in industrial disputes
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What did the gov decide to do with the mines on 31st March 1921?

Back

Return them to the former owners

Card 3

Front

What did the mine owners subsequently do after control was handed back to them?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

How did the gov use the 1920 Emergency Powers act and why did they use it?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Why wasn't the triple alliance a serious threat?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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