Springburn Virtual Museum

Railway industry

Glasgow and District Railwaymen's Strike Bulletin, Oct 1919

During the national railway strike of 1919, rail unions claimed that the government was applying a wartime pay agreement in such as way as to bring about wage cuts for some grades, due to the fall in the cost of living, to which the pay agreement was linked. It was to prove one of the most successful actions ever taken by rail unions.

The bulletin bolstered the morale of the strikers and kept them informed of events in various districts, including the incidence of 'scab' labour (employees who worked during the strike). Volunteer workers attempted to keep the trains running. Workers in the administrative and clerical sector within the railway industry performed duties such as signalling, guard duty and portering, and some even drove engines.

Although the general secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen promised that it would be a 'model strike', without violence, there were isolated incidents including one in Glasgow. Police charged 'mobs' of strikers and headlines screamed of 'Glasgow Bolshevism', 'Disgraceful Scenes', 'Riot Act Read'.

Source: Glasgow City Archives