Today on Workers Day upon marching through London on the annual May Day march, exactly a century after the monumental nine day general strike that took place in 1926 in response to unjust working conditions and poor pay, the striking inequalities many workers have to face, along with the rise further major concerns of violence and the physical and emotional stress and vulnerability of workers (which would in turn influence their performance and ability to gain the most success and satisfaction from their work) still remains a pressing issue for today's society, even after its supposed social and economic advancement over the course of this period. In a world governed by image and pressure to function effectively in a material and consumerist led society in which capitalism takes centre stage, the current mental health crisis can prove to act as another means of developing new means of monetising wellbeing and self-fulfilment through creating marketing opportunities for medication, psychotherapy, health and fitness, and lifestyle, making it seem as though maintaining a good physical and mental state to optimise productivity within the workplace is down to the individual themself and their ability to take responsibility for their own health through this. What this mentality neglects to consider is that this is merely the fault of capitalism and the exploitative systems that this creates. It is through this that one can realise the only way of reducing this issue and bringing about change is through the same tried and tested method that has been in practice for as long as capitalism and the need for so-called efficiency within the workplace have. Marx's theory on alienation can appear to remain ever important with this regard. That method is class struggle.
The 1926 strike proves to perfectly substantiate this sentiment. This was when the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called for strikes to take place at the time of conflicts arising amongst mining regarding the nationalisation that had taken place for these companies, something that caused mass outcry amongst private owners of mines, which advocated the use of methods popular under lucrative capitalist systems. These included a 13% wage cut and 8 hour workdays. Such was the anger at this change that 1.5 million other workers went on strike in solidarity with the miners. This lasted for 9 days with negotiations being made with the government for proposed improvements to society. These, however, were unsuccessful. In spite of this, this movement stands as an important turning point for revolutionary ideas within the workplace, and for encouraging strike action and unionisation as methods of mobilisation within the workforce as ever popular strategies for the present day.
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