As Britain approaches the centenary of the 1926 General Strike, Roz Foyer asks what a modern-day strike would look like — and which workers hold the power to reshape today’s economy

A century on from the General Strike, what would one look like today?

Next year marks 100 years since the General Strike of 1926 — the only general strike ever to take place in the UK.

Between 1.5 and 3 million workers took part in the nine-day strike, called in solidarity with coal miners facing savage attacks on their pay and conditions.

With printing workers on strike, the Scottish Trades Union Congress produced its own newspaper, The Scottish Worker. It reported how transport and heavy industry were brought to a standstill as millions across Scotland and Britain downed tools. Local strike committees organised permits to allow essential goods, such as milk and food, to be moved.

The strike was ultimately defeated. But it remains a high point of working-class organisation in Britain — and a powerful reminder of the leverage workers can exert over the economy when they act together.

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A hundred years on, it is worth asking: what would a general strike look like today?

The economy of the 1920s was dominated by mines, mills and factories. Today’s economy looks very different. In the 1920s, more than a million people worked in mining. Now, you are more likely to earn a living selling the video........

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