In 1912, the mining community throughout the country voted to take action to obtain a minimum wage for all underground workers. Cumberland miners, whose wage currently stood at 6s. 6d. per day voted by a majority of six to one in favour of the claim. The refusal of the masters to accept this proposal precipitated a strike that lasted five weeks and was only settled after the government intervened and passed the minimum wage Act. Although work resumed the Aspatria miners voted by a majority of 243 to 137 against the resumption. The principal problem being that the minimum rates were not determined but were fixed locally by a Joint District Board, consisting of members from both sides of the industry. The rate was finally set at 6s. per day for Hewers and Deputies, with corresponding rates for other workers. Although Scottish coal was flooding the district throughout the dispute, the strike had serious repercussions on the entire district. In the neighbouring town of Wigton for example, the streets went unlit, and many of the manufacturers were forced to cut production.
During the First World War a considerable number of employees left the industry to fight for King and Country. The majority young and fit, were predominantly employed as Hewers and Trailers. Despite their departure the joint annual output of the Brayton Domain pits continued to exceed 200,000 tons. In June 1915, a strike of a very peculiar nature occurred at the collieries. The agitation arose following the governments decision to authorise the payment of a 15 per cent war bonus to all collier employees. In consequence the selling price to the public rose accordingly. The workers were accustomed to obtaining their coal at 5d. per cwt. compared to the retail price of 1s… The management seized the opportunity and attempted to increase this cost by 1d… The miners resented the decision and balloted in favour of a strike. This overwhelming show of force was sufficient to withdraw the intimidation.
In 1917, the coal mining industry was temporarily taken over by the government and a coal controller appointed, to regulate output and organise distribution. This he achieved with the aid of local committee’s composed of members of the council and representatives from the colliery owner and the major consumers. The committee for Aspatria comprised Joseph Atkinson, William Irving, Thomas Husbands, James Maxwell, William Pennington, Thomas Ostle, John Martin, Henry Stoddart and Thomas Hillary. Their primary function appears to have been a one of trying to improve the laid down procedure for household allocation. The rules stipulated that the annual allowance for households with one or two rooms was 2.5 tons, three or four rooms 3.75 tons, five or six rooms 5.5 tons, seven or eight rooms 9 tons; rooms were defined as living and bedrooms. This was considered inadequate for the working classes of Aspatria and a survey conducted by the committee revealed that the average family in Aspatria consumed 7.5 tons of coal, the lowest being 6 tons and the highest 9 tons. The latter case comprised a large family with workers represented on both shifts.
In 1918, two strikes were settled to the advantage of the workers. The first was a national dispute provoked after the government cut the meat ration to 50 per cent of its previous value. The second was local and related to the dismissal of a worker for prolonged absenteeism.
After the war output was seriously affected by a series of strikes, particularly those in 1921, ‘26 and ‘31. One of the reasons for these strikes was that British coal and its principle customer the metal smelting industry were both affected by growing competition from technically stronger continental countries. Countries who had invested to a greater degree in mechanised mining. Cumberland coalfields remained essentially a “pick and shovel” industry. Instead of attacking this problem at the route source the authorities inwardly withdrew and fought each other for the once lucrative Irish trade, the traditional market for Cumberland coal. Colliery owners attempted to meet foreign competition by seeking to impose wage cuts and to lengthen the day of their employees.
In 1919, the Miner’s Federation tried to take advantage of the short-lived boom in the industry and threatened a strike unless certain demands were met. These included the nationalisation of the industry, a six hour day, a 30 per cent increase in gross wages, exclusive of the 3s. per day war wage. The government responded by initiating the Sankey Commission to investigate the claim and as a measure of their serious intent they ordered an interim settlement. This included a seven hour day and a flat rate increase of 2s. per day for those aged 16 and over, with a 1s. award for the remainder; pieceworkers also received an increase of 14.2 per cent to compensate for the loss of earnings resulting from the reduction in hours. By March 1920, inflation was rising at an alarming rate and a further 20 per cent was forthcoming. These advances precipitated a further rise in the cost of the product, which simultaneously fuelled inflation and inspired demands for an increase in wages, under the threat of an all-out strike. The strike began on October 16th and lasted until November 3rd, finally being settled with an award of 2s. per day for those aged 18 and over, with corresponding rates for all other ages. This was described as an interim settlement payable until January 1st 1921, conditional on output reaching an agreed level referred to as the “Datum Line.” This resulted in a conflict of interests between the workers who wished to have national bargaining and the owners who were determined to return to district settlements.
Prior to the strike of 1921 coal was selling at 39s. 2d. per ton of which 27s. 9d. was directly related to wages. It was obvious that if coal was to fall to £1 per ton as speculators suggested, then wages had to fall accordingly. Following the collapse of the export market, the government were presented with a subsidy bill of £60,000,000. These losses were obviously unacceptable and resulted in the business being handed back to the original owners. The owners now had the upper hand and they reacted by issuing dismissal notices, accompanied with new terms of employment. This resulted in drastically cutting the wage to almost half of the previous level. The lock-out of the mines commenced on 31 March and lasted thirteen weeks. The affects were almost instantaneous. During the monthly meeting of the Aspatria Urban District Council in April, it was reported that not even a hundredweight (50kgms) of coal was available for domestic consumption. While those stocks retained at the local pits were being held in reserve for their own consumption. Within six weeks many of the tenants in the council owned houses had fallen behind with their rents and the weekly strike pay of 15s. had been reduced to 2s. 6d.. The situation gradually deteriorated and eventually the men were forced back to work; on the acceptance that future wage agreements would be negotiated at a district level. Despite the many drawbacks of the agreement there was one concession favouring the workers who were now to share in the profits of the industry, albeit at a district level. After 1920, average earnings, which had stood at £235, fell sharply to £123 and never recovered until 1942. However, was this a true interpretation of the statistics. In 1920, the following information was released by the Board of Trade, comparing the cost of coal at the pit-head to the selling price to housewife.
Table
Not only had the price of the product fell by 1925, but a large proportion of the industry continued to accrue heavy losses. The local authorities made a contribution by making a series of reductions in the rateable value of the colliery. In 1921 the council reduced the joint rate assessment to £484. The actual gross value of No 5 pit was stated as £8,560, with a rateable value of £3,429. The gross value of No 4 pit was £10,558 with a rateable value of £5256. The council made a further reduction in 1929 when both pits were re-assessed, giving a rateable value at No 5 of £2,273 and at No 4 of £1,389. However, these measures were of little significance. The solution from the owner’s point of view was to reduce wages and return to a eight hour shift. The argument persisted for eight months with supported threats from the Trade Union Congress and a government subsidy equivalent to 5s. 6d. per ton in the Cumberland district. When the owners announced that the existing terms would be annulled on April 30th, the same day as the ending of the subsidy, the miners were locked-out and the general council of the T.U.C., called for a General strike in support of their comrades. Nine days later they called off the General Strike and the miners were left to battle alone.
For almost eight months the strike continued, with the workers suffering severe hardship. At the beginning of the strike the Cumberland Association paid 10s. per week to every adult member and 2s. for every child. By May 18th, this had been reduced to 5s. per man and the child allowance abolished. By October, prolonged poverty broke the strikers resolve and men started trickling back to work. On December 2nd, the final capitulation occurred with the acceptance of the owner’s original terms. These amounted to the following:
- Hours of work underground to be eight hours per shift, five shifts a week, with six and a half hours on a Saturday.
- Surface workers to work forty nine hours per week.
- Minimum percentage on base rates to be 35 per cent until end of March 1927.
- Subsistence allowance up to a maximum of 6s. 10d. to be paid until end March 1927.
The agreement was to last for three years from 1st January 1927.
In 1930, the Labour government tried to improve the miner’s status by reducing the daily hours of working by thirty minutes. Despite this gesture the business remained in a precarious state. In 1931, the owners again raised the question of wage reductions. The case was referred to the National Industrial Board who recommended a reduction of 7.5 per cent on the minimum percentage rates. Two ballots were held by the men and on both occasions the result marginally favoured a strike. A third was held which deliberately excluded a considerable portion of the membership, thus manipulating the results to suit the wishes of the Union representatives. These officials were responsible for a strike that should never have occurred and could never have been won. The strike that began on 24 June lasted until 13th August and achieved nothing but hardship, the men being forced to accept the reductions.
Between 1931 and 1939, the miner’s wages improved slowly to end at an average earnings level of 10s. 9d. per man shift, compared with 12s. 4d. twenty years earlier. Following the closure of No. 4 pit, Aspatria like the remainder of West Cumberland was designated a depressed area: and its dependency on mining was brought to the attention of the public. The result, a general reduction in the areas population. Many migrated to where work was available; some went to work in other British coal fields, while others went to South Africa, Canada and the United States of America.
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