‘The meek shall inherit the earth’

On 9 May 1926, as most of Britain’s industries lay idle, veteran dockers’ union leader Ben Tillett received a cable from across the Atlantic that strengthened his resolve. The cable was sent by George Kidwell, the secretary of the San Francisco Bakery Wagon Drivers’ Union, congratulating Tillett and other British workers on their ongoing general strike, calling it a ‘wonderful demonstration of working-class power’. The inspiration of the British workers’ actions had spread across the globe. ‘The meek shall inherit the earth,’ Kidwell continued, ‘but they must seize and hold it’.¹

Britain has only ever had one general strike. In May 1926, more than two million workers downed tools in support of the country’s coalminers, who had been locked out of their pits after refusing to accept swingeing wage cuts.