On 30 June 1925, the coalowners, backed by the government, gave one month’s notice that the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) Agreement of 1921 would be terminated, which would reduce wages in coal mines by 10-25 percent, and that the national minimum wage would end after 31 July. Coalowners claimed that this was made necessary by their losses over the past year, which subsequently alarmed trade union leaders in other sectors of industry as a threat to wages in their trades.

The trade unions united and a special conference of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) agreed that a strike would be declared at midnight on Friday 31 July. In the face of this threat, the government, offered to subsidise the miners’ wages as they had not yet fully organised their strike-breaking bodies such as the Supply and Transport Organisation. The TUC called the strike off and the British labour movement dubbed 31 July as “Red Friday”.

However, the labour movement celebrated prematurely, as coalowners again would demand reductions. Nine months later, coalowners cut wages and the government was now able to defeat workers when they came out on strike.