Red Friday

(Friday, July 31, 1925), the day of the British miners’ victory over the mine owners. The owners, faced with a crisis in the coal industry, had sought to lower workers’ wages and eliminate the fixed minimum wage. The miners forced the owners to cancel the coal-industry lockout that had been declared on August 1; their victory was possible thanks to the unity of action of Great Britain’s working class. The name “Red Friday” was given in contrast to Black Friday (Apr. 15, 1921), the day the rightist leaders of the trade unions broke up the miners’ strike struggle.