Rent Strikes 1915

Rent Strikes -Glasgow Showed women responding to the new challenges of War Showed their organisation and that they could take on authority. Glasgow and other industrial cities saw a large surge in population as people moved to the cities for work. The living conditions were generally poor made worse by lack of craftsmen

Landlords did little to improve conditions People needed houses so took what they could Landlord profiteered by increasing rent Govan rent rose by 20% Paid high rent for poor conditions Failure to pay meant eviction

Landlords took advantage of the fact that men were away fighting - bullied women with threats of eviction. Protests grew with rising food and rent prices. Feb 1915 Helen Crawfurd and others set up Glasgow Women’s Housing Association Aim to resist rent strikes

The rent strikes were a national concern and not just local Glasgow and Clyde were central to war production, especially munitions The women argued they were not disrupting the war effort- said they were preventing profiteering and exploitation of munitions workers Aim to prevent evictions

Landlord threatened them with eviction, fines, prison. May 1915 Rent strike began 25,000 tenants in Glasgow joined the protest. Soon strikes broke out in Dundee and Aberdeen. Munitions workers joined in and were taken to court. They likened the landlord to the Prussians. Even employers backed them as they feared holding up war production. Fairfields engineering said that they would not allow workers to move into home of an evicted worker 17 th November mass demonstration in George Sq. against prosecution of 18 tenants for not paying rent increases.

Government was worried Male munitions and engineering workers were striking too. Rent Restriction Act froze rent levels at 1914 prices Strikers demands were met and profiteering declined. War production was maintained