TRADES AND LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 1987, 24 March 1892, Page 35

TRADES AND LABOUR.

THE COAL MINERS' STRIKE. (Per Pkess Association.) London, March 15. The Durham coal owners have issued a manifesto declining responsibility for the strike. The North-eastern Railway Company are taking off 200 trains from their service. The Miners' Federation are refusing to allow the men to work the pumps, and it is feared some of the mines will be flooded out. The Scotch steel manufacturers have given notice of a 10 per cent, reduction in wages. There is a fortnight's coal supply in London. The press praise the manifesto issued by the Durham colliery owners. The Daily News .urges "that the royalties on coal mines, which amount to six millions per annum, so overload operations as to become a legalised system of blackmail. March 16. A portion of the Barnsley miners have resumed work. The Dean Forest and Cumberland miners resume on the 19th inst. The Miners' Federation held a meeting to* day to discuss the duration of the strike. It is believed a majority of the delegates were in favour of the men returning to work on the 21st inst. March 17. The price of coal in London has fallen 4s per ton. The general belief is that the strike will not last long. The miners are unanimous in their determination to resume work on Monday. The French trades unions are moving for an eight hours limit and the suppression of labour bureaus. Sixteen hundred miners have struck in Belgium against a reduction of 15 per cent, from their wages. March 18. The miners have agreed in future to work five days in the week. March 19. The miners have agreed to' suspend Mondays, beginning on April 9. The Pall Mall Gazette asserts that the losses of the men stopping amount to half a million, and that the costs to consumers will be greater, and alleges that middlemen and merchants will reap the benefit. The Durham funds are sufficient for three months, and the federation is making a levy of L4OO per week. Coal has undergone a further fall of 2s per ton. The Durham miners refused to resume work. Ten thousand more men have struck. It is understood the Government will oppose the Miners' Eight Hours Bill. The Miners' Federation are favourable to making a levy of 6d per week to assist the Durham strikers. It is expected that the miners will have at an early date to submit to a reduction in their wages. March 20. The ironworks in Staffordshire, which had to stop for want of coal, are starting work. There are continued riots in Durham. Members of the Miners' Federation have generally resumed work. STRIKE ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC. Ottawa, March 18. The western employes of the Canadian Pacific railway have struck for an increase of wages. They also demand that 100 men who were dismissed shall be reinstated. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company assert that the strike has been incited by agitators in the United States. March 20. The strike "on the Canadian-Pacific railway has extended to the Pacific portion of the line. ' The company refuse to give way. March 22. . A general strike from the Pacific to the Atlantic along the Canadian-Pacific Railway Company's line is imminent.