British crisis: day of decision

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33454, 8 February 1974, Page 9

British crisis: day of decision

l ONI)()\ . Eehruai \<. In spite nf a last-minute peace search in secret h\ trade union and industrial leaders. Britain today appears to be sliding, irreversibly, towards a devastating strike b\ her coalminers and a bitter General Election 17 months before one is inandalorv.

For the Prime Minister (Mr Edward Heath) this may well he a day of momentous decision: Feverish speculation in both Parliament and the press, suggests that, after meeting his Cabinet today, he will announce a General Election to he held as early as February 28, so that the issue of the miners' pay dispute and the economy of the country can be put to the public. The "Daily Express’’ re- ( ports confidently today that Mr Heath has already decided on a poll three weeks from today, and a Gallup opinion poll published in the “Daily Telegraph” shows (he Opposition Labour Party with a 3 per cent lead over Mr Heath’s Conservatives. The survey was, however, taken before the miners’ decision to strike was known. Hopes have all but evaporated for averting the stoppage ' due to begin at midnight on ( Saturday. At two meetings yesterday, [officials of the Trades Union Congress and the Confedera-; tion of British Industry con-, tinned to search for a for-1 mula which would give the 1 miners the full pay rise they! want immediately, and yet! I still prevent a serious breach ■in the Government’s antiinflation wage regulations., j I No announcement was made after the meetings, but (sources close to them say that; (little headway was made. ( The Leader of the Opposi-I 'tion (Mr Harold Wilson) sug-( gested on television that paying the miners for meal- ( breaks might be a way out, of the dilemma, but similar; proposals have recently been rejected.

Grave warning It was Sir Michael Clapham, the president of the C. 8.1., who predicted that Britain was “facing a crisis almost as serious as the outbreak of war.” He emphasised that employers whose businesses faced ruin because of the further power cuts that a strike would bring had pressed hard for a quick solution to the dispute. Cutting the present three-day working week to a drastic two-day week would vastly increase the alreadylong queues of the unemployed. he said. Mr Ronald Mclntosh of the National Economic Development Office, said yesterday that as many as 4 million people might be out of work in the first month of a coalminers’ strike, and the figure could be “astronomical” if the shut-down in the mines continued much longer. Production down The miners who have banned overtime for 12 weeks, plan to halt coal production in the nation’s 270 colleries, and to stop the use of coal in industry, to make the pinch of their action felt as

• (quickly as possible by th< I Government. • Production has already . slumped by about halt, wort ' in the pits, having turned t< ' propping up rock faces ant Lservicing safety equipment. >i National Coal Board mana ■[gers have warned that ; . strike may well close many . [pits permanently through tire . flooding, and rockfalls. Train-drivers, still undet , an overtime ban. and other [ unions have already pledgee ‘ not to carry. or use coal '[after the beginning of , | strike. The miners' leaders busiec. themselves yesterday collect (ing support from othei I unions to ensure that the 1 strike would bite quickly ’ and reduce industry to th< I surrender-level that brought ■ the coal workers' victory ir •(their last pay strike tw< II years ago. r ’ Oininoti- Mioutlorms i The 13.5 million tons oi [coal now stockpiled in powei . stations would last, at tin .present rate of consumption “ for only about five weeks be ‘ifore dipping to the danger [level of seven million tons . below which, experts say. or I ganised power supply be -(comes difficult for technics -(reasons. -i About 70 per cent of tht ?:nation’s 174 power station.(run on coal, 20 per cent rur t'on oil, and 6 per cent on nuc ijlear fuel, the remainder using .(gas or hydro-power ( Weather is an important 5 i factor influencing the endurance of coal stocks, and sud Jden snowstorms throughout (Britain yesterday provided ar .[ominous sign that the hitherjto unusually mild winter max ' give place to a fuel-depleting "(cold spell.

Pay coiDpariMin 1[ The emotive equation most [frequently used to support [the the miners' pay claim is that a dust-caked coalminer, 'working prone in a watery ■ I shaft, earns about the same : as a girl secretary in a cosy - London office. Estimates of average earn - ings vary, but the State-rur National Coal Board lists t . face-worker’s average earn

le mgs. with overtime included, at about £4O a week. On to;) i v of this is an estimated averij. age 12.49 a week in free coal and cheap tent. The figure falls slightlv be a low average industrial earnings, and newspapers in I on J - don are tilled with advertisea merits for secretaries at near > the £4O-a-week mark. e. The miners complain that their once-unchallenged posi > r lion as the aristocrats of the , r manual working world has fallen away. Factors - em I ployees. working in less ar- ‘ duous and less dangerous conditions, can earn £6O a week, and more II In common with other 1 . unions, the National Union of 1 Mineworkers has largely 1 ceased handing out strike ’.pay. Social Security pay- ' ments of £l6 a week, and ’ more, now provide a cushion against outright destitution Voices have been raised, urging the Government to eliminate these payments tor strikers' families, but at jf present no such move is ox , r pected. le The hazards of the miner- 1 n work are illustrated in th< >’ accident statistics —78 nui p'killed last year; and othei s figures show that between r .' 100 and 200 men leave th> j, i industry each week to seek jl (other jobs. Ie Danger to aged n Dr Geoffrey lay lor, who " first drew attention to the ’ dangers of old people dying cold 10 years ago, said Jin an interview yesterda' pithat research had shown J’I that even in mild weather n ,half of Britain’s old people n live in cold rooms, and that p 10 per cent of them—7oo.ooo v | —are on the verge of hypogithermia. * “If we have cold weather, we are going to kill oft old people by the thousand," he said. “In the cold winter ot it 1963. when there were no t power cuts, 30.800 more is] people died than would be r. expected. The Government y and local authorities should e organise the movement ot y old people in danger of hav ing their vital power cut off i- into hotels. halls, and n chapels—anywhere where a a large number of people can t- be kept warm."