A stoppage of the coal mines on a national scale took place in 1912, when the Miners' Federation demanded an individual dis trict minimum wage for all underground workers in mines. It was settled by the passing of the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, 1912, which virtually gave the men what they demanded.
The coal mining stoppage of 1920 was in support of the men's demand for an advance in wages, not conditional upon output. A temporary advance was given, pending the working out of a per manent scheme, and the men resumed work. Negotiations followed between the Mining Association (representing the coal owners) and the Miners' Federation, but no agreement could be reached, the owners insisting that wages should be regulated on a district, and the men that wages should be regulated on a national basis. The position was also affected by the Government's announcing their intention to decontrol the industry on March 31, 1921, five months earlier than had been expected. A fresh stoppage, which affected all the coal fields, began on April 1, 1921, and a settle ment was finally reached on July I, laying down the lines on which wages were in future to be regulated : the same principles were to be followed in all districts (and the settlement was to that extent national), but the costs and surpluses, on which wages were henceforth to depend, were to be calculated for each district separately.
The agreement of 1921 was revised in 1924, in favour of the men; but a severe slump followed, and the employers gave notice to terminate the agreement as from the end of July, 1925. A stop page was averted by the Government's granting a subvention until April 3o, 1926, to give time for a full inquiry to be made into the state of the industry. A royal commission was appointed, under the chairmanship of Sir Herbert Samuel, which reported on March 6, 1926; they made various proposals for the improvement of the industry, but expressed the opinion that, as a temporary measure, an immediate reduction of wages was necessary. The owners accordingly gave notice of reduc tions of wages to take effect after April 3o, when the subven tion ceased; but these were unacceptable to the men, and the stoppage began on May 1. The dispute terminated at various dates in November and December (except in some Midland areas, where an agreement was reached earlier) by the acceptance of the men of district settlements, usually involving considerable reductions of wages and increases in hours of labour.
Another great dispute occurred in the engineering industry in 1922, also mainly on the question of management ; only one trade union, but that much the largest—the Amalgamated Engineering Union—was concerned. Modified proposals were accepted by the men after a stoppage of about three months.
Most of the strikes and lock-outs in the shipbuilding industry are relatively small, and of short duration, many of them being concerned with demarcation questions; but there were two great disputes, in 1922 and in 1923. That of 1922 affected all the trade unions in the industry, and was directed against a reduction of wages. A modified reduction was accepted after a stoppage of five and a half weeks. The dispute of 1923 was more prolonged, last ing nearly seven months, but it affected only the members of one trade union : this was, however, the principal trade union in the industry, the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders. The dispute was occasioned by the refusal of the union to accept an agreement relating to overtime and night shif ting working, which had been signed by the other shipbuilding trade unions. The dispute was eventually compromised, the em ployers agreeing to discuss with the union the modification of the agreement in certain points.