The Dublin Lockout
26 August 1913: Just before 10am, Dublin's tram car drivers abandoned their vehicles mid-route, setting into motion what would be known as the Dublin Lockout, a labour dispute that would last until 18 January 1914.
Famed labour organiser, "Big Jim" Larkin, was behind the strike and had been emboldened by recent successes in securing increased wages for Dublin's working class. But this time, his adversaries, lead by William Martin Murphy were prepared. Trams were almost immediately providing limited service despite the strike - via back-up non-union operators.
But the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) included not only the tram drivers but other key labour groups like the carters - Dublin's lifeblood.
City-wide demonstrations against continued tram operation were violently stamped out by the Dublin Metropolitan Police and RIC on 31 August, with hundreds of demonstrators injured. And despite the public backlash, Murphy successfully organisedhundreds of Dublin employers into a united front against the union.
Workers who refused to disavow the ITGWU would be barred from their places of work or "locked-out".
As many as 15,000 Dubliners were out of work and funds set aside by the union for this scenario werr insufficient - both for the extent and duration of the strike.
Eventually Murphy and Dublin's employers would succeed. And with the uinon's goals largely unrealised Dublin's destitute labourers were forced to return to work.
Despite this logistical failure, the strike and ensuing lockout would have a long lasting impact on the socio-economic and political fabric of both Dublin and Ireland on the whole. The lockout had reeked of class-warfare, ultimately strengthening the foundation from which the 1916 rising and War of Independence would spring.
Note: Although historical fiction, "Strumpet City" the 1969 novel by James Plunkett, spans the length of the lockout, lending vivid detail to conditions faced by the Dubliners who lived it. If you haven't read it...put it on your list.