Strikes are in the news, as workers feel the effects of rampant inflation and astronomic energy prices, they rightly want a decent life as they produce a mountain of wealth that never reaches them. Of course the strike is not a new thing, it has been part and parcel of the workers methods of protecting and improving their living conditions. As far as I am aware the first recorded strike was away before trade unions and was workers response to abominable conditions. It occurred away back in 1152 BC and was in ancient Egypt. Workers at the Royal Necropolis were sick of the poor rations and miserable working conditions, so they stopped working and took their complaint to Ramesses III negotiations took place and the workers were successful and went back to work.
The first strike in UK, as far as I know, was the Calton Weavers strike, 1787, in which 5 weavers were shot by the militia.
During the the period between 1911 and 1914, UK experienced over 3,000 strikes, some being very violent as the state tried to break the strikes. Industrial workers, miners, dock workers, transport workers all with genuine grievances took strike action. Some are etched into working class history, among those are the The miners strike 1910-11, Liverpool transport strike 1911, during this strike two workers were shot and killed by the military. Then there was the first national strike by miners the National Coal strike, 1912.
During the the period between 1911 and 1914, UK experienced over 3,000 strikes, some being very violent as the state tried to break the strikes. Industrial workers, miners, dock workers, transport workers all with genuine grievances took strike action. Some are etched into working class history, among those are the The miners strike 1910-11, Liverpool transport strike 1911, during this strike two workers were shot and killed by the military. Then there was the first national strike by miners the National Coal strike, 1912.
Then in my own wee patch we had the 1919 battle of George Square. At the end of the first imperialist world war, 1918, troops were being demobilised and unemployment was soaring. Workers and trade unions wanted to increase the number of jobs by cutting the hours worked in the week. Strike action was called by shipbuilding workers and engineering workers. At a mass gathering in George Square, the police baton charged the crowd and all hell broke loose. Rioting took place with workers and police across the city. The state responded by sending in troops to man the streets and docks, and tanks were stationed in the city. This is now know as Glasgow's Bloody Friday.
Strikes are a legitimate method of protecting your living standards and improving your conditions. So let's get behind the strikers of today, they are carrying on the struggle for a decent life for all workers and their families, as wealth accumulates in vast quantities in ever fewer hands, while we, the ordinary people, unnecessarily, slide rapidly into poverty and destitution.
