The labor advocate. [volume] (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1912-1937, 1915-07-31
Wage Scale is Chief Cause
of Welsh Coal Mine Strike
While Owners Reap Profits of so to 100 Per Cent. in
War Time, Increase in Mems Pay is Limited -
Miners Served Notice in April.

The strike at the coal mines OF South
Wales, by which nearly 100000 men
have laid down their tools, cannot have
come as a surprise to the British Gov
ernment nor to the mine owners No
tices of intention to strike at the end
OF three months unless their demands
were granted were handed to the coal
operators early in April by the men, and
this formally was preceded by months
of agitation in Parliament by the lead
crs of the labor political parties. In
the last three months the President of
the Board of Trade. Walter Runciman,
who has charge Of the Governments
part in the settlement between the min
ers and the coal owners, has had num-
erous conferences in London with rep
resentatives of both sides.
The strike notices handed in early in
April marked the date when the old
wage agreements were terminated over
the whole of the coal fields of Great
Britain II the war had not intervened
and given the coal owners the preteXt
for asking that the existing regulations
ought not to be disturbed when the ma
ton was at war, there would have been
no question Of the right of the miners
to make new terms with the operators
last April The preiminarics had al
ready been fixed the new agreements
to run for three years, expiring in April,
1918.
How Wage Scale Works.
The South Wales Miners Federation,
the one involved in the present strike,
was particularly anxious for the new
terms. as its members have for a long
~. he oil
maximum wage system. According to
ii, wages vary as to the selling price of
coal only up to a certain point, after
which the total profit goes to the mine
owner. The maximum price which
fixes wages was reached more than six
months ago in South Wales, and the
miners are now insisting that this mini
mum-maximum scale be abolished alto
gethcr They say that when coal goes
down they must suffer II reduction
in wages. When coal goes up, they
think they should enjoy cores pond
ing profit in wages to the full extent
of the increase in price.
State control of the mines Of South
Wales and Scotland has been advocated
by the miners OF those districts for
many years. on account OF the uncom-
promising dllllN'lt dSSlllltu ny lllt pWI-
ers. The general purpose OF the pres
ent strike is to force the Government
to take over the full control of the
mines as they did at the beginning of
the war OF the railroads under an ar
rangcmcnt which has been eminently
satisfactory To the country as well as
to the men. and which has prevented the
excessive profits in the railroad business
which the miners claim the mine own
crS have been obtaining. The Govern
mcnt has attempted to be neutral on the
mining situation and in consequence has
done little which pleascs either side to
the controversy
The repeated refusal of Prince Min
ister Asquith, as mediator three months
ago, to give official approval to the par
amount claim OF the miners unions FOR
national recognition, which is the posi-
ton assumed likewise by Mr.. Runci-
man as mediator, forms the basis for the
belief among the miners that the Gov