ABSTRACT
A sizeable strike, if examined closely, could scarcely be said to be typical of anything but itself. The number of workers involved is almost always large if a strike lasts more than a few days: the sizeable strikes are less those which spread than those which are not settled quickly. Austin workers—to start with them—struck in some strength in 1921 over an employment issue, but the history of sizeable strikes at Longbridge really begins in 1929, when there were two—both in protest against wage-reductions. The strike had taken a surprisingly long time to develop, as a chronological summary of events demonstrates. The Ministry of Labour records the stoppage as having ended on May 5th, by which time the majority of the strikers had in fact resumed work. In all, the dispute had involved 239,000 striker-days. One factor seems, in the car industry case, to set fairly narrow limits to the potential influence of individual workplace leaders.
