Red Friday - Red Friday

Red Friday

In April 1925 Britain returned to the gold standard. This was effectively a revaluation of sterling, and led to deflation in the British economy over the following years. This made it difficult for the coal owners to export coal profitably in the face of resurgent German exports. On 30 June the Mining Association gave notice to terminate the 1924 wage agreement, after which wages would be cut (with no national minimum) and hours increased. Negotiations took place, but it was soon apparent that, without a subsidy, a strike or lock-out was inevitable. The miners had secured an agreement from the railwaymen that they would not handle coal. This was likely to result in the railway companies sacking those who refused, leading to a railway strike.

The government reviewed emergency arrangements and Prime Minister Baldwin concluded, "We were not ready". In consequence the government backed down, and negotiated a subsidy for the coal industry to last nine months to enable the employers to maintain wages and conditions. This cost £23M. It seems that an emergency plan existed on paper, but would require the recruitment of many volunteers to implement it, and the staff did not exist.