The daily sentinel., 1913-02-01
ENGLAND STARTS
NEW YEAR WITH
SER|ONS STRIKES


London, Feb. England start
ed the new year with a strike of the
taXicab drivers; and, if the threats
of the labor leaders are only partial
ly carried out. the present year will
prove an even more serious one in
dustrially than that which preceded
il. and 1912 broke all records. De-
spite this, the trade of the country
I likewise broke all records
While the taxi strike causes much
/ Inconvenience in the city, il is the
disputes in the Industrial districts
/ that are creating the greatest un-
easiness. The coal miners of Wales.
who We're the hardest fighters in the
last coal strike, are again restless,
being dissatisfied with the award Of
| the commissioner appointed under
the act passed by parliament to end
the last strike. fixing the minimum
wage. A general conference is to be
held to deal with the matter 1t is
certain that the owners will fight
against any increase in the cost of
] production, rs they have already lost
to America contracts for the Italian
government and Egyptian state rail
ways because of the high price at
which they made tenders.
There are, however, two points
/ against a general strike of the min
ers. The last struggle almost eX-
| hausteG the funds of the unions, and
under an old agreement the miners
wages are increased as the contract
price of coal is raised. AS this price
has gone up, the miners, in the north
OF England, at any rate, would prob
ably be against another contest with
the owners.
ha, II th al
/ is that arising from the agitation of
the seamen and firemen for a system
atisation of the rates of wages and
conditions of service on board ship.
The men, under the leadership of
| HaveloCk Wilson, have been agitating
/ lOr this for years. They have asked
! time and time again that concilia-
! tion board be appointed by the own
ers and unions to standardiZe the
wages and conditions, but the bulk
of the owners have refused In the
hope of winning their point, the men
went on strike in 1911 and demanded
q big increase in wages. The big
companies granted the wages. and
the smaller firms got their men back
at the old wages and conditions. 1t
is for these latter that the union is
now fighting.
7
when the union had exhausted all
means of diplomacy, the executive
would fix n date when the seamen
would take a vacation" ''In our
union," he. explained, "the word
strike is very vulgar and nasty
word to use"
More trouble too, is brewing in
the cotton trade. The Operative Cot
/ ton Spinners have given notice of
withdrawal from the Brooklands
agreement. which has been in opera
tion for some years and which COW
cred all disputes in the cotton spin
ming trade controlled by the Employ
ers' Federation. The action of the
spinners was determined by the al
] legged ineffectiveness of the agree
ment in dealing with complaints of
bad material, which have been a con-
4 tinual source of annoyance to the
owners and operatives and which
/ have increased enormously recently.
/ The card room workers also have
grievances against the agreement.
and they too have given the necess-
/ airy months notice OF withdrawal.
/ The London bakers are also pre-
pairing for struggle for better wag-
es and shorter hours In some parts
of London the condition of the work
/ ing bakers is deplorable. They have
to work long hours in poorly venti-
/ lated cellars for the meregt pittance.
| They have organized, and by large
majority have agreed to go on strike
unless their demands are granted.
/ Throughout the railway world
there is considerable unrest over
what the men call ''victimization.
They claim that any of their number
0 -. 4. tao Il
unionism are quickly gotten rid of
/ by the companies or are put at such
work that they cannot readily meet
the other workmen One big COM
pany, however, has found a way out
of having continual disputes with
! the men. This is the London and
Northwestern. the management of
which has appointed a Grievance
/ Hearer." This man, who had prov
/ ed himself to be a good conciliator,
was chosen to keep in touch with
the men and investigate their griev-
ances. Thus far the company an
nounces that the experiment has
/ been a great success, but it was
| pointed out that this was not case
of creating post and finding man
/ for it, but rather of sphere of ac-
/ tivities being suggested by the per-
sonal qualities of certain man.
1 Unpleasantness is also cropping
up again along the London docks
over the slowness with which it is
alleged the Port of London Authority
is reinstating those men who went
on strike last year. Men were
brought from the outside to fill their
places, and although the docks are as
| busy as ever work cannot be found
! for all The result is that many of
/ the old men have found themselves
without employment during the win
ter, and the distress in the dock dis
tricts has been more serious than
ever before.