Author: gregorybillam

Labour history news

Call for poems for the 1926 General Strike Centenary

The Fig Tree online webzine and Crooked Spire Press of Chesterfield have announced a new special issue to commemorate the centenary of the 1926 General Strike. Submissions are sought for poems covering the following topics: The General Strike of 1926. The union movement – its history and benefits. Historic strikes both before and after 1926. The role of unions in the modern world. Poems written … Continue reading Call for poems for the 1926 General Strike Centenary

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Events, Labour history news

Centenary: The 1926 General Strike on Stage

A century on, the strike that shook Britain comes to life on stage – and it’s now just weeks away. May 1926. Millions of workers across the country walked out, standing shoulder to shoulder for a fairer world. To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the 1926 General Strike, ‘Centenary’ celebrates the event at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead. Created by Wisecrack … Continue reading Centenary: The 1926 General Strike on Stage

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Events

Online Talk: South and North rather than North and South: The ‘Big Strike’ Novel

To mark the centenary of the 1926 General Strike, Professor Michael Sanders (University of Manchester) will deliver an online talk on Wednesday 20 May at 7pm covering two Mancunian female trailblazers. Elizabeth Gaskell may have been one of the first to write a ‘picket-line’ romance, in her much-loved classic North and South, but she was certainly not the last. In the centenary year of the ‘General … Continue reading Online Talk: South and North rather than North and South: The ‘Big Strike’ Novel

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Events, Labour history news, SSLH news

1926 General Strike Centenary Open Day

The People’s History Museum in Manchester is hosting a special open day to mark the centenary of the 1926 General Strike on the 9 May 2026. The event will delve into the strike’s continuing significance and legacy. Academics, activists, trade unionists, and heritage professionals will explore the 1926 General Strike through a range of papers and panels, and highlight rare archival material. The event is … Continue reading 1926 General Strike Centenary Open Day

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Labour history news

Vale Rawlings: the lost story of a Burton-upon-Trent trade unionist continues

In July 2024, I shared my plans to tell the story of forgotten Staffordshire trade unionist, Vale Rawlings, in a play and a book. You can read that story here. Now, the play has been staged, filmed, and the book is published, but discoveries about new aspects of Vale’s story continue to emerge. I tracked down a number of Vale’s granddaughters and found that one … Continue reading Vale Rawlings: the lost story of a Burton-upon-Trent trade unionist continues

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Labour history news

Left on the Shelf enters a new era

Left on the Shelf Books, the UK’s largest dealer in radical second-hand books, pamphlets and journals, has changed hands following the retirement of its founder and long-term owner Dave Cope. Set up in 1992 after Cope bought the second-hand stock of Central Books, and for many years the main retail and wholesale outlet for the Communist Party of Great Britain, Left on the Shelf relocated … Continue reading Left on the Shelf enters a new era

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Labour history news, SSLH news

HELP NEEDED IN UPDATING Bibliography of the 1926 General Strike

In 2006, Historical Studies in Industrial Relations (HSIR) 21 published ‘The General Strike and Mining Lockout of 1926: A Select Bibliography’, compiled by John McIlroy, Alan Campbell, Keith Laybourn and Quentin Outram. To mark the one hundredth anniversary of the strike, this is now being updated for publication in HSIR 47 later this year by Dave Lyddon and Quentin Outram. We are asking users of … Continue reading HELP NEEDED IN UPDATING Bibliography of the 1926 General Strike

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Books etc, Labour History Review

Book reviews in Labour History Review volume 91 (2026) issue 1

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2026), 91, (1). Read the reviews. Abhishek Yadav reviews Titas Chakraborty, Empire of Labor: How the East India Company Colonized Hired Work, Oakland: University of California Press, 2025, pp. xiv + 322, h/b, £53.65, ISBN 978 05203 99631 Quentin Outram reviews Jessica Field, Eviction: A Social History of Rent, London: Verso, 2025, pp. vi + 280, h/b, £20, ISBN 978 … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review volume 91 (2026) issue 1

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Labour History Review

Widows, Subsistence Strategies, and Union Solidarity in Railway Labour in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina

Author:  Florencia D’UvaThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2026), 91, (1). Read this article. This article examines the survival strategies employed by the widows of railway workers in Argentina during the early twentieth century. Rather than portraying these women as passive recipients of assistance from trade unions or railway companies, this study highlights their active agency in securing financial support. Through petitions, legal … Continue reading Widows, Subsistence Strategies, and Union Solidarity in Railway Labour in Early Twentieth-Century Argentina

Unknown's avatargregorybillam
Labour History Review

The CPGB and the Soviet War Scare, 1927-29

Author:  James SquiresThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2026), 91, (1). Read this article. The coming of the Soviet war scare in 1927 obliged all communist parties to spring to the defence of the world’s first socialist state. Kick-started by Britain’s severance of diplomatic relations in May, clear emphasis was placed from the very beginning on the role the Communist Party of Great … Continue reading The CPGB and the Soviet War Scare, 1927-29

Unknown's avatargregorybillam