Red Clydeside

Timeline of events

Report on the General Strike by the Glasgow branch of the Amalgamated Engineering Union

May 1926

The general strike took place between 3 May and 12 May 1926 and was called by the Trades Union Congress to defend 'miners' wages and hours'. It had been planned that initially only workers in frontline industries, such as the dockers, printers, railway and transport workers and builders, would come out on strike, but many second-line workers, for example those employed in the textile industries, also stopped work. The general council planned that only later in the dispute would occupations such as the engineers and shipyard workers be called out.

There was a great deal of dissatisfaction among engineering and shipyard workers at the general council's decision to keep them in reserve during the first week of the strike. Many workers within these trades wanted the opportunity to show their solidarity with the rest of the striking population, and many felt that calling them out would have given the strike a fresh impetus.

The decision not to bring out the engineering and shipbuilding workers until later in the strike explains the relatively slight impact of the general strike in Glasgow. These two industries were the largest employers in the Glasgow region, and both trades had a strong militant tradition. The order from the Scottish TUC to withdraw labour from the shipyards and engineering shops came on 11 May. The response from the workers was overwhelming, but within a few hours of joining their comrades the TUC had called off the general strike.

Source: Glasgow Trades Council Collection, Glasgow City Archives