The final negotiations began on 1 May but failed to achieve an agreement, leading to an announcement by the TUC that a
general strike "in defence of miners' wages and hours" was scheduled to begin on Monday, 3 May, at one minute to midnight. The leaders of the
Labour Party were troubled about the proposed general strike because they were aware of the revolutionary elements within the union movement and of the damage that they might do to the party's new reputation as a party of government. During the next two days, frantic efforts were made to reach an agreement between the government and the mining industry representatives. However, they failed, mainly because of an eleventh-hour decision by printers of the
Daily Mail to refuse to print an editorial ("For King and Country") condemning the general strike. They objected to the following passage: "A general strike is not an industrial dispute. It is a revolutionary move which can only succeed by destroying the government and subverting the rights and liberties of the people". Baldwin was now concerned about the TUC and printers' action interfering with the freedom of the press. King
George V tried to stabilise the situation and create balance saying, "Try living on their wages before you judge them." The
Communist Party of Great Britain cooperated with the Trades Union Congress in rallying and organizing the strike. The TUC feared that an all-out general strike would bring revolutionary elements to the fore and limited the participants to
railwaymen,
transport workers,
printers,
dockers,
ironworkers, and
steelworkers, as they were regarded as pivotal in the dispute. In a rare political radio broadcast, Archbishop
Francis Cardinal Bourne, the leading Catholic prelate in Britain, condemned the strike, knowing that many strikers were Catholic. He advised that "It is a direct challenge to lawfully constituted authority. ... All are bound to uphold and assist the Government, which is the lawfully constituted authority of the country and represents therefore ... the authority of God Himself." The government had been preparing for the strike over the nine months in which it had provided a subsidy by creating organisations such as the
Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies. It was ready and able to do whatever it could to keep the country moving. It rallied support by emphasizing the revolutionary nature of the strikers. The armed forces and volunteer workers helped maintain basic services. The government used the
Emergency Powers Act 1920 to maintain essential supplies. On 4 May 1926, the number of workers on strike was estimated at between 1½ million and 1¾ million. There were strikers "
from John o' Groats to Land's End". The reaction to the strike call was immediate and overwhelming, surprising both the government and the TUC; the latter not being in control of the strike. On this first day, there were no major initiatives and no dramatic events except for the nation's transport being at a standstill. On 5 May 1926, both sides gave their views. Churchill commented as editor of the government newspaper
British Gazette: "I do not agree that the TUC have as much right as the Government to publish their side of the case and to exhort their followers to continue action. It is a very much more difficult task to feed the nation than it is to wreck it". Baldwin wrote, "The general strike is a challenge to the parliament and is the road to anarchy". The
British Worker, the TUC's newspaper, wrote: "We are not making war on the people. We are anxious that the ordinary members of the public shall not be penalized for the unpatriotic conduct of the mine owners and the government". In the meantime, the government put in place a "militia" of
special constables called the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies (OMS) of volunteers to maintain order in the street. A special constable said: "It was not difficult to understand the strikers' attitude toward us. After a few days I found my sympathy with them rather than with the employers. For one thing, I had never realized the appalling poverty which existed. If I had been aware of all the facts, I should not have joined up as a special constable". It was decided that
fascists would not be allowed to enlist in the OMS without first giving up their political beliefs, as the government feared a right-wing backlash so the fascists formed the so-called "Q Division" under
Rotha Lintorn-Orman to combat the strikers. On 6 May 1926, there was a change of atmosphere. The government newspaper,
British Gazette, suggested that means of transport into London began to improve compared to the first day with volunteers, car sharing, cyclists, private buses, as well as strikebreakers. A statement on the front page indicated 200 London General Omnibus Company buses 'on the streets'. Only 86 LGOC buses, however, were operating. On 7 May 1926, the TUC met Samuel and worked out a set of proposals designed to end the dispute. The Miners' Federation rejected the proposals. The
British Worker was increasingly difficult to operate, as Churchill had requisitioned the bulk of the supply of the paper's newsprint so it reduced its size from eight pages to four. In the meantime, the government took action to protect the men who decided to return to work. On 8 May 1926, there was a dramatic moment on the
London Docks. Lorries were protected by the Army. They broke the picket line and transported food to
Hyde Park. That showed that the government was in greater control of the situation. It was also a measure of Baldwin's caution, in place of Churchill's more reactionary stance. Churchill had wanted, in a move that could have proved unnecessarily antagonistic to the strikers, to arm the soldiers. Baldwin, however, had insisted otherwise. In
Plymouth, tram services were restarted, with some vehicles attacked and windows smashed. However, not all strike actions in the city were confrontational; a football match, attended by thousands, occurred between a team of policemen and strikers, with the strikers winning 2–0. The supporters included a delegation of 4,000 strikers, which marched to the grounds accompanied by a marching band. On 10 May 1926, the
Flying Scotsman was derailed by striking miners at
Cramlington, a short distance north of
Newcastle upon Tyne. The
British Worker, alarmed at the fears of the General Council of the TUC that there was to be a mass drift back to work, claimed: "The number of strikers has not diminished; it is increasing. There are more workers out today than there have been at any moment since the strike began". However, the
National Sailors' and Firemen's Union applied for an injunction in the
Chancery Division of the High Court to enjoin the General-Secretary of its
Tower Hill branch from calling its members out on strike. Mr
Justice Astbury granted the injunction by ruling that no trade dispute could exist between the TUC and "the government of the nation" and that except for the strike in the coal industry, the general strike was not protected by
Trade Disputes Act 1906. In addition, he ruled that the strike in the plaintiff union had been called in contravention of its own rules. As a result, the unions involved became liable, at common law, for incitement to breach of contract and faced potential
sequestration of their assets by employers. On 12 May 1926, the TUC General Council visited 10 Downing Street to announce its decision to call off the strike if the proposals worked out by the Samuel Commission were respected and the government offered a guarantee there would be no victimization of strikers. The government stated that it had "no power to compel employers to take back every man who had been on strike". However, the TUC agreed to end the dispute without such an agreement. Various strikes continued after this as their unions negotiated deals with companies for their members to return to work. ==Aftermath==