Men Standing Firm

Northern Advocate, 6 September 1947, Page 7

Men Standing Firm

“Stand firm’’ was the general reaction in the strike area to Mr Shinwell's statement.

The men were disappointed with the result of Mr Shinwell’s meetings with the Coal Board and union leaders and they are arranging meetings throughout the Yorkshire coalfield to consider the position.

The Evening News says it is learned that the Coal Board reminded Mr Shinwell that the increase in the daily stint, about which the Grirnethorpe men first struck, was a condition of the five-day week agreement and that any appeasement in Yorkshire would have serious repercussions. Today the North-east regional office of the Coal Board announced that the strike position was unchanged with 54 pits and 70,000 men affected. Some household supplies in Yorkshire, are being diverted to industries whose output has been reduced by a third.

Some cutlery firms in Sheffield are closing. Some steelworks reported a 45 per cent cut in capacity as a result of the Sheffield Gas Company’s request to industrial users to reduce consumption by half. Coal stocks in Britain on July 31 totalled 13,086,000 tons, against 11,722GOO on June 30, and 12,674.000 in October, 1946. The overall absenteeism at mines in July was 10.53 per cent, and at the coal face 12.99, which was the highest since April. INDUSTRIALISTS’ PLAN

b A statement issued after a meeting between Messrs Morrison, Ernest Bevin, Dalton, Isaacs, Barnes, Sir Stafford Cripps and five members of the executive of the Federation of British Industries, stated that the discussion centred upon the production of capital expenditure projects. The Ministers indicated sympathy in principle with the idea of such reduction, which planning staffs were actively examining. The meeting was arranged to examine proposals dealing with the economic situation, which the Federation of British Industries submitted to Mr Attlee last week. <