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1955 UK Strikes, Wages, and Employment
Image by brizzle born and bred
image above: Bristol City Docks June 8th 1955. River Barges are pressed into service to carry ship cargoes away from the jammed dockside. As a result of British Rail Strike.
In 1955 Great Britain declared a State of Emergency due to the National Rail Strike. In addition, 1955 is also the same year that Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus.
The year 1955 in Britain was one of rising prices, rising wages, and full employment. Wages in mid-1955 were about 7 per cent higher than they had been in mid-1954. The increase in prices was about 4 per cent. Although about 1 per cent of labor was unemployed, job vacancies amounted to 2 per cent.
In late spring, the Londoner had an unusual opportunity to gauge the role of the Fourth Estate in modern life when electricians and maintenance men in London newspaper offices struck and brought newspaper publication, except in the provinces, to a halt.
Prime Minister Churchill was forced to announce his resignation to a silent press.
Almost simultaneously, late in May a railway and a dock strike began, and within a day or two seamen had begun to walk off their ships in a quite unauthorized strike.
The railway strike involved two unions — the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen and the larger National Union of Railwaymen. The former walked out; the latter did not. The strikers claimed higher wages to correspond with their greater skills and more responsible positions. With the use of members of the latter union, the British Transport Commission, which operates the railways on behalf of the government, was able to operate a limited service during the 17 days of the strike.
As the striking union won a substantial part of its demands, the other union at once began agitation for a corresponding increase. The strike of dockers and stevedores also involved a dispute between two rival unions — the National Amalgamated Stevedores and Dockers Union (which struck), and the Transport and General Workers Union.
The latter had the support of the Trades Union Congress. About 20,000 of the former in seven of Britain’s chief ports remained on strike for about six weeks and seriously dislocated Britain’s critical export trade, even after the strike had ended, since there were many cancellations of orders from overseas.
The strike of seamen was of a different sort. It was opposed by the union to which the men belonged. The walkout began gradually, and the return was almost equally gradual. As many of the men were serving on merchant ships at sea in lieu of military service, the government’s threat of military service eventually induced the strikers to rejoin their ships, but not until they had seriously aggravated the dislocation brought about by the dockers’ strike. Their grievance was hours and conditions of labor.
By June 25 their unsuccessful strike was over.
What UK Events Happened in 1955
Great Britain declares State of Emergency due to National Rail Strike.
The first Commercial TV Station with advertisements starts in London, England.
British Newspapers Not Printed for 1 month due to strike in Fleet Street By Maintenance Workers.
Clement Attlee who oversaw the creation of the British Welfare System resigns as leader of the Labour Party.
Princess Margaret announces she will not marry divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend.
Great Britain effected by worst winter storms causing roads, rail and problems with food and medical supplies.
Ruth Ellis the last woman in England to be executed is hung at Holloway Prison.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill Till 7 April.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden From 7 April.
British General Election 1955 Anthony Eden ( Conservative )defeats Clement Attlee ( Labour ) and Clement Davies ( Liberal )
First pocket transistor radios available.
Fish Fingers are marketed by Bird’s Eye.
23 January – Sutton Coldfield rail crash: an express train takes a sharp curve too fast and derails at Sutton Coldfield railway station: 17 killed, 43 injured.
24 February – A big freeze across Britain results in more than 70 roads being blocked with snow, and in some parts of the country rail services have been cancelled for several days. The Royal Air Force works to deliver food and medical supplies to the worst affected areas.
25 February – Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal completed.
29 March – Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen calls a strike which continues until 14 June, leading to a State of emergency being declared on 31 May.
2 April – Duncan Edwards, the 18-year-old Manchester United left-half, becomes the youngest full England international in a 7-2 win over Scotland at Wembley. Dudley-born Edwards is already being tipped by many observers to become the next England captain upon the eventual retirement of Billy Wright.
5 April – Resignation of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister due to ill-health at the age of 80.
6 April – Foreing Secretary Anthony Eden is named as the new prime minister.
16 April – Release of Laurence Olivier’s film of Shakespeare’s Richard III.
21 April – National newspapers published for the first time after a month-long strike by maintenance workers.
23 April – Chelsea F.C. are Football League First Division champions for the first time in their history.
5 May – American virologist Dr Jonas Salk promotes a polio vaccine in Britain, with the 500,000th person receiving a vaccine against the disease.
7 May – Newcastle United secure the FA Cup for the sixth time with a 3-1 win over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
24 May – Film The Dam Busters released.
25 May – Joe Brown and George Band are the first to attain the summit of Kanchenjunga, as part of a British team led by Charles Evans.
27 May – Anthony Eden wins the general election for the Conservative Party with a majority of 31 seats, an improvement on the 17-seat majority gained by his predecessor Sir Winston Churchill four years ago.
28 May – Philip Larkin makes a train journey from Hull to London which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings.
6 June – Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act comes into effect, with intention of protecting children from horror comics.
16 June – Submarine HMS Sidon sinks in Portland Harbour with the loss of thirteen crew following an explosion caused by a faulty torpedo onboard.
July – Unemployment stands at a modern low of just over 215,000, meaning that a mere 1% of the workforce is currently jobless.
9 July – Bertrand Russell issues the Russell-Einstein Manifesto highlighting the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.
13 July – Ruth Ellis becomes the last woman to be hanged in the UK.
17 July – Stirling Moss becomes the first English winner of the British Grand Prix.
18 July – Winterborne St Martin enters the UK Weather Records with the highest 24-hour total rainfall at 279 mm – a record which stands until November 2009.
25–27 July – ‘Operation Sandcastle’: The first load of deteriorating captured Nazi German bombs filled with Tabun (nerve agent) is shipped from Cairnryan on the SS Empire Claire for scuttling in the Atlantic Ocean.
3 August – English language premiere of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, directed by Peter Hall, opens at the Arts Theatre, London.
26 August – Hammer Film Productions’ The Quatermass Xperiment released.
27 August – Guinness Book of Records first published.
4 September – Richard Baker and Kenneth Kendall become the first BBC Television newsreaders to be seen reading the news.
14 September – Airfix produce their first scale model aircraft kit, of the Supermarine Spitfire at 1/72 scale.
21 September – United Kingdom annexes Rockall.
22 September – First ITV franchises of Independent Television Authority begin broadcasting the UK’s first commercial television ending the 18-year monopoly of the BBC. The first advertisement shown is for Gibbs SR toothpaste. On the same day, the popular BBC Radio serial The Archers kills off the character Christine Archer.
26 September – Clarence Birdseye begins selling fish fingers in Britain.
October – Dame Evelyn Sharp appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the first woman Civil Servant to attain this most senior position within a UK Ministry.
31 October – Princess Margaret calls off her proposed marriage to Group Captain Peter Townsend.
19 November – C. Northcote Parkinson first articulates "Parkinson’s Law", the semi-serious adage Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
20 November – Milton rail crash: an excursion train takes a crossover too fast and derails at Milton, near Didcot: 11 killed, 157 injured.
2 December – Barnes rail crash, Barnes, South London: collision due to signal error and consequent fire: 13 killed, 35 injured.
7 December – Clement Attlee resigns as leader of the Labour Party after twenty years.
8 December – Ealing Comedy film The Ladykillers released.
9 December – Cumbernauld, Scotland, designated as a New town.
12 December – Christopher Cockerell patents his design of hovercraft.
14 December – Hugh Gaitskell becomes leader of the Labour Party.
16 December – The Queen opens a new terminal at London Airport.
20 December – Cardiff becomes the official capital of Wales.
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