RENT STRIKES
Causes of the
1915 Rent Strikes
The traditional industries of the Clyde diversified into war related work.
War Work
diversified into
The first year of the war saw an extra 20,000 workers move to the Glasgow area to help meet the demand for labour in the munitions factories, shipyards and steelworks. This increased population inevitably caused tension between locals and new arrivals. Many of the incomers came from areas of England. They frequently found the cold wet climate of western Scotland, and the poor quality of the local diet, difficult to adjust to.
Before the outbreak of war Glasgow had a reputation for the poor quality of its housing. Many of them were badly in need of modernisation or repair. There was a lack of skilled tradesmen to carry out the necessary work – some had enlisted in the military and the remainder were fully occupied in industry, supporting the war effort. New houses were not being built, for similar reasons.
Glasgow was not the most crowded city in Britain at this time, as this graph shows.
Population Density in 1911
The graph shows the number of people living in every square mile of these
cities. The higher the number means the more crowded the city was.
Think– how would the extra 20,000 munitions workers
moving into the area have changed Glasgow’s
figure on the graph?
However Glasgow’s poorest people lived in extremely overcrowded homes. London and Glasgow had almost the same population density figure in 1911, but in Glasgow 66% of the population lived in homes with more than two people in every room. In London only 32% of people lived in such cramped conditions.
The response of landlords to this situation was simply to increase rents. The new workers could afford to pay higher rent, and so their arrival offered the opportunity to make more profits. In some areas of Glasgow, such as Govan, rents increased by as much as 23%. The existing tenants who could pay soon found their hard-earned wages and overtime being whittled away, while those who could not pay, including families with men serving in uniform, faced the possibility of eviction by sheriff’s officers.
Trade unions were well established in Glasgow’s heavy industries. There was also a relatively new political party formed to represent working people. The Labour Party had several local councillors elected in the Glasgow area. There was, therefore, a tradition of working people standing up for their rights in Glasgow.
In particular, the campaigns for suffrage had encouraged many women in Glasgow to campaign and develop political activism. Women in Glasgow were not prepared to sit quietly by when they felt strongly about an issue.
Women like Helen Crawfurd and Mary
Barbour set up the Glasgow Women’s
Housing Association – specifically to
protect tenants against rent increases.
This combination of factors set the
scene for rent strikes. In protest
against what they saw as unfair increases
tenants stopped paying any rent. The
first rent strike took place in May 1915.
Activity
Using the information above create a mind map summarising the causes of the rent strikes.
You should be able to identify four main causes – one for each ‘reason’ box on the diagram.
Which of the causes you have identified was the most significant. Rank the causes in order of importance. Are there causes which were absolutely essential, without which the rent strikes would not have happened? Are there causes without which the rent strikes would have happened anyway?
The 1915
Rent Strikes
As tenants refused, or were unable, to pay increased rents their landlords attempted to evict them from their homes. The job of carrying out evictions fell to sheriff’s officers – men employed by the courts to collect fines and enforce judgements. Sheriff’s officers were recognisable by the bowler hats they wore.
Protestors made it physically impossible for evictions to take place. No sooner was an eviction attempted than women would rush to the scene and do whatever was necessary to prevent tenants being forced from their homes. This might involve jamming so many people into the tenement close that nobody could get in or out, or perhaps throwing bags of flour at the sheriff’s officers.
Support for the rent strikes grew and by the end of 1915 at least 25,000 tenants had joined the movement. Mass meetings were held to support the strikes and local associations were set up to support those facing eviction or court appearances.
The rent strikes were even supported by major employers in the area. Factory owners did not want to see productivity reduced because workers were concerned about their living arrangements. Fairfield’s, a shipyard in Govan, issued a statement saying that they would not allow any worker of theirs to move into the home of a tenant evicted for failing to pay a rent increase.
By November 1915 events reached a climax. Not only were rent strikes becoming more common, but industrial workers were now stopping work in support. The Government rushed through the Rent Restriction Act, which meant rents were kept at pre-war levels, with increases only allowed if there had been improvements to the property.
Activity
Think about what the impact of the Glasgow rent strikes would have been in 1915.
Glasgow workers had pulled together and successfully opposed the plans of wealthy landlords. How would this have made Glasgow workers feel? What might they have planned to do next?
The Government had been forced to give the rent strikers everything they wanted to ensure that production in munitions factories was uninterrupted. How would a government feel about being forced into action in this way? What might they be worried about now?
Glasgow’s landlords had seen the chance to increase their profits, but had been prevented from doing so by ‘people power’. Factory and shipyard owners had also seen an increase in unrest among their workers. What worries would this cause for the businessmen of Glasgow?
5-5-1
Describe theGlasgow rent strikes in five sentences. Reduce this tofive words. Reduce this to one word.