rent strikes Flashcards
in 1915 what did the industrial west of scotland see?
what were tennament blocks like?
what happened in govan for example?
in 1915 the industrial west of scotland saw a huge increased in population due to the increased availability of war work
glasgow in particular saw a huge rise in population but had very poor condition tenament blocks partly due to lack of tradesmen who were all otherwise involved with the war effort
landlords took advantage and in govan for example, rent increased by around 20% despite bad conditions
what did landlords take advantage of
what was set up in february 1915 - what tactics were used
landlords took advantage of men being at war and bullied women with the threat of eviction if they did not pay the increased rent
in february 1915 the glasgow womens housing association was set up to resist eviction threats - there tactics to provent eviction included crowding into stair closes and blocking access aswell as ‘bombing sherif officers with bags of flower’
why were the rent strikes of national importance
because glasgow and clyde were most of the strikes were taking place was particularly important to the war effort
the munitions industry was of main concern as possible disruption to production durring time of war was of great concern to the government
what action did landlords take
how did women retaliate in other parts of scotland
landlords began to threaten protestors with eviction, fines and prison
women in glasgow and other parts of scotland retaliated by beginning a strike in may 1915 and around 25,000 tennants in glasgow took part with others joining in aberdeen and dundee
how did employers ar fairfield’s show there support for the rent strikes
employers at fairfield’s showed there support for the rent strikes by stating that they wouldn’t allow any of their workers to move into the home of an evicted person
why did a demonstration take place in glasgows george square on november 17th 1915
to protest against the prosecution of 18 tennants for non-payment of rent increases
the atmosphere and general discontentment of the protest worries the government as it was impacting war time production with men in munitions and engineering facotories now demanding pay increases aswell and joining the strike to support women
what did the rent restrictions act state
the rent restrictions act 1915 stated that rent would freeze at pre-war 1914 levels unless improvement had been made to the property. the rent strikes demands had ultimately been met - the protests now declined and war time production of munitions was maintained
