There were a number of strikes in Dublin in 1913 affecting the dockers, building trades, clerks and carters all involving the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, led by Jim Larkin. In August 1913 the anti-union owner of the Irish Independent newspaper, William Martin Murphy, sacked all the union members on his staff. Larkin immediately organised sympathetic strike action, including on the Dublin tramways which were also owned by Murphy. On the weekend of 30-31 August, 3 workers were killed and hundreds were injured in battles with the police. Larkin was imprisoned after addressing a banned meeting in O'Connell Street.

The TUC sent a delegation to Ireland to investigate the situation and this photo shows John Hill, secretary of the Boilermakers' Society on 7 September 1913. The meeting was held, in defiance of police and Government bans, to assert free speech and trade union rights and to demand an inquiry into police conduct the previous week. The TUC delegation visited Larkin in prison, but failed to persuade employers to attend a conciliation conference to end the strike.

Title	Transport Workers Strike, Dublin, 1913
Maker	--
Production Date	1913
Format	Photograph
Copyright	--
Holding Institution	TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University
Related Objects	--