South Johnstone strike, 1929

South Johnstone strike, 1929. Responses to strikes, such as that in South Johnstone during 1929, rapidly polarised workers according to their ethnic background. In the 1934 Weil’s disease strike, described in Jean Devanny’s novel Sugar heaven, southern Europeans found themselves estranged from both farmers and unions. Instead they aligned with radical locals associated with communist groups. Photograph from Emilio Duran Memoirs, private collection.