STRIKE SUMMARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 276, 20 November 1926, Page 9

STRIKE SUMMARY.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS. CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE. In July, 1925, Britain was faced with the threat of a strike of coalminers, owmg to a proposal by the mineowners to institute reduced wages and longer hours of work, conditions which the miners refused to accept. To avert the threatened strike, the Government stepped in and agreed to pay a subsidy from August 1 until April 30 of this year, and to set up a commission to inquire into conditions in the industry. This subsidy cost the country about £22,000,000. The commission, in its report, recommended the discontinuance of the subsidy, and a revision of .the standard rate of wages, the lowest-wage men to be safeguarded by a modification of the subsistence allowance. The miners declined to accept the commission's recommendations, and came out on strike on May 1. To support the miners, a general strike was launched by the Trades Union Congress on May 3„ but owing to the Government's precautionary measures the general strike was a failure, and was called off by the T.U.C. Council on May 11 without the miners' consent. The Government then advanced fresh proposals for the settlement of the mining dispute, including the offer of an additional subsidy of £3,000,000. The miners failing to agree to the other proposed terms, the subsidy offer lapsed on June 1. OWNERS' OFFER. At the end of June the mineowners offered to the men revised terms, which provided for district agreements on the basis of an eight-hours' day, but the miners have ail along held out for a national agreement and a seven-hours' day, the slogan of their leader, Mr. A. J. Cook, being "not a minute on the day, not a penny off the pay." On July 8 the Government, amid violent dissent from the Labour benches. passed the Miners' Hours Bill, which permitted an eight-hours' day to be worked in mines, and suspended the Seven Hours' Day Act for five years. CHURCH LEADERS' PROPOSAL. Later in July a deputation of church leaders put forward proposals for a settlement, which embodied a claim that the Government should assist the industry while reconstructive plans were put into operation, the men in the meantime to resume work under the old conditions. A conference between the owners and men was held to consider these proposals, but proved abortive. On September 9 it was announced that the miners had abandoned their claim for a further Government subsidy. They proposed an immediate return to work for three months at reduced wages while an Arbitration Board decided the ultimate wages to be paid in the different districts. Their proposals demanded the retention of the seven hours' day. These terms were rejected by the owners, who have all along firmly demanded an extension of the working day. • Since October the men have been drifting back to work, and their leaders have been left to make the best terms possible. The strike is estimated to have cost Britain between £250,000,000 and £300,000,000.