Black Friday (1921)

Black Friday, in British labour history, refers to 15 April 1921, when the leaders of transport and rail unions announced a decision not to call for strike action in support of the miners. The epithet 'black' derives from a widespread feeling that the decision amounted to a breach of solidarity and a betrayal of the miners.

In the 1890s and the first two decades of the 20th century, increasing efforts were made to bring about amalgamations of small, local trade unions and to forge links between different organisations, with a view to securing united action. The National Transport Workers' Federation was created in 1910 to co-ordinate the actions of trade unions representing dockers, seamen, tramwaymen and others and in 1912 the National Union of Railwaymen was created as an amalgamation of a large number of local and sectional organisations representing rail workers. In 1914, the rail and transport unions came together with the Miners' Federation of Great Britain to form the Triple Alliance. Although the agreements did not constitute a binding agreement, the formation of the alliance was recognised as a vehicle for united action by the largest and most powerful industrial groups.

In the aftermath of the First World War, the Triple Alliance and united action in general were regarded by many trade unionists as a defence against the threat of wage reductions occasioned by the onset of economic depression. A complicating factor was that both the coal industry and railways had been controlled by the state during the war and were not immediately returned to private hands. The Coalition-Liberal Government of David Lloyd George was unwilling to impose wage reductions, as this would provoke strike action against the government, with political implications. Reductions for miners were postponed until the industry was de-controlled on 31 March 1921. Miners who refused to accept the reductions were locked out of employment.

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