Page:George Henry Soule - Recent Developments in Trade Unionism (1921).pdf/10

 course coal is the basis of all British industry, for without coal the factories have no power. But the railroads transport the coal, and in doing so they must use coal in their locomotives. If there were a long miners' strike, therefore, the railroad men would be out of work, and if there were a long railroad strike, the miners would be out of work. The same applies to the transport workers, who are employed at the harbors and terminals. Therefore the three unions agreed to act in concert as much as possible. By doing so they could wield immense power, because if they should all go out at once, Great Britain would be paralyzed.

So far, there has never been a strike of the whole Triple Alliance. It has been used as a threat rather than as an actual weapon. When the railwaymen went on strike, the miners and transport workers said they would have to join forces with their comrades unless the strike was settled quickly, and their pressure helped to bring about a settlement. The same was true when the miners struck. While the Triple Alliance is a powerful threat, it has thus proved itself a little unwilling as a weapon. It is so powerful that the unions themselves have hesitated to use it, knowing that a general strike in all three industries would start a conflict the end of which nobody could predict. It might even end in a revolution. But a revolution cannot be started every few months to settle minor grievances. The Triple Alliance will not make good its threat until