New pay offer made to striking miners

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32838, 11 February 1972, Page 9

New pay offer made to striking miners

* (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) LONDON, February 10. The leaders of Britain’s 280,000 striking coalminers will discuss today a new pay offer aimed at ending the stoppage that has placed the country in a state of emergency.

After a month of defiance by the miners, during which coal stocks have been seriously reduced and power stations have been brought close to standstill, the State-controlled National Coal Board presented its new 7 pay deal last night; but hopes that the men will accept it are not strong.

At a 41-hour meeting with union leaders, the board raised its original offer of a £2-a-week increase to £3.

But at the end of the meeting, the president of the Na-tional-Union of Mineworkers, Mr Joe Gormley, told reporters that he would not recommend acceptance to members of the union executive when they meet to discuss it today. Before last night’s talks — the first between the board and the union since the strike began 31 days ago—the Government had proclaimed a state of emergency which seems likely to lead to two periods of power cuts throughout the country each day. Trains affected British Rail executives have given a warning that some electric train services will have to be cut because of restricted power supplies; several rush-hour trains were cancelled last night. Before the board’s new offer was made, Mr Gormley had had talks with the Minister of Labour and Productivity (Mr Robert Carr), and reporters were told by union leaders later: “We are going into the new talks with an open mind — spelled m-o-n-e-y.” The miners have declared repeatedly that they will stay on strike indefinitely unless the board substantially raises its offer, originally of a 7.9 per cent wage increase. The men have asked for 47 per cent.

The Conservative Government has been trying to keep wage rises to an unwritten ceiling of about 8 per cent; but the miners are widely regarded as deserving special treatment because they work in unpleasant conditions. Picket arrests Clashes between the miners’ pickets and the police, however, have aroused strong feelings; a

number of arrests were made yesterday. Yesterday’s proclamation of a state of emergency came

at a meeting of the Privy Council presided over by the Queen Mother in the absence of the Queen, who is on a tour of South-East Asia.

The proclamation was conveyed to the House of Commons by the Home Secretary (Mr Reginald Maudling), who said that such action was essential to minimise the threat to Britain’s national life.

Mr Maudling told angry Opposition Labour Party members that the Government had no intention of interfering with the methods the police used to handle militant pickets. Midlands stoppage About 40,000 engineering workers in the industrial city of Birmingham are expected to hold a one-day strike today in support of the miners. About 200 factories are likely to be affected. Birmingham union officials decided to call out their members after 500 policemen and picketing miners had clashed for the third successive day at a large coke depot. One policeman was injured and 25 persons were arrested.

A union spokesman said that many of his members would join the miners in picketing the depot, and they hoped to close it.