Ulster Unionist Labour Association - Workers Strike

Workers Strike

Predominantly Protestant, Belfast engineering and shipyard workers traditionally well organised, staged a three-week strike demanding a ten-hour reduction in the working week. This was done in defiance of the national leadership of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions. The strike was extended to include electricity and municipal gas workers causing large sections of industry and commerce to close down. They began to publish a daily newspaper and a General Strike Committee was formed and began to issue permits allowing only ‘necessary’ production.