1942 Betteshanger miners' strike: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Miners Statue near the roundabout on the A258 (geograph 2410793).jpg|thumb|A statue of a miner at the now-closed coal mine]] |
[[File:Miners Statue near the roundabout on the A258 (geograph 2410793).jpg|thumb|A statue of a miner at the now-closed coal mine]] |
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The '''1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike''' took place in January 1942 at the [[Betteshanger]] colliery in Kent, England. The strike had its origins in a switch to a new [[Face (mining)|coalface]], No. 2. This face was much narrower and harder to work than the previous face and outputs were reduced. The miners proved unable to meet management production quotas and the mine owners refused to pay the previously agreed minimum daily wage, alleging deliberate slow working. An arbitrator called in to review the dispute ruled that the quotas were achievable. The miners disagreed and went on strike from 9 January. |
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The '''1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike''' took place in January 1942 at the [[Betteshanger]] colliery in Kent, England. |
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Under wartime regulations, Order 1305, striking was illegal unless the matter had been referred to the [[Ministry of Labour and National Service]] for settlement. Prosecutions were made against the strikers; three union officials were imprisoned and 1,085 men fined. The prosecutions hardened the strikers' attitudes and after the strike entered its third week the government began negotiations. A settlement was reached to reinstate the minimum wage and for the men to return to work on 29 January. The imprisoned men received a royal pardon on 2 February and the fines were remitted in July 1943. |
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== Background == |
== Background == |
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[[File:Tyldesley miners outside the Miners Hall during the 1926 General Strike.jpg|thumb|Miners at Tylesley during the 1926 strike]] |
[[File:Tyldesley miners outside the Miners Hall during the 1926 General Strike.jpg|thumb|Miners at Tylesley during the 1926 strike]] |
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In order to maintain production outputs during the [[Second World War]] the British government passed the [[Conditions of Employment and National Arbitration Order 1940]], commonly referred to as Order 1305.<ref name=bogg/> |
In order to maintain production outputs during the [[Second World War]] the British government passed the [[Conditions of Employment and National Arbitration Order 1940]], commonly referred to as Order 1305.<ref name=bogg/> This made it an offence for workers to go on strike unless the [[Ministry of Labour and National Service]] failed to refer a labour dispute for settlement by a National Arbitration Tribunal within 21 days. The order had the support of the ministry's National Joint Consultative Committee which included representation from the [[British Employers' Confederation]] and the [[Trades Union Congress]].<ref name=mak/>{{rp|29}} |
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[[Betteshanger]] was the largest [[colliery]] in the [[Kent Coalfield]], employing thousands of miners working a seam some {{convert|1500|ft|m}} below ground level. |
[[Betteshanger]] was the largest [[colliery]] in the [[Kent Coalfield]], employing thousands of miners working a seam some {{convert|1500|ft|m}} below ground level. The mine had a reputation for militancy as many of the miners who took up jobs there after its opening in 1927 had been blacklisted from mines in other parts of the country for their actions during the [[1926 United Kingdom general strike|1926 general strike]]. The miners had held a strike in 1938 over the treatment of young employees at the colliery.<ref name=dover/> |
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[[File:Men of the Mine- Life at the Coal Face, Britain, 1942 D8268.jpg|thumb|left|A miner working in a narrow coal seam, Britain 1942]] |
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The 1942 strike had its origins in a decision by the mineowners to open up a new coalface, known as No. 2 Face, in November 1941. |
The 1942 strike had its origins in a decision by the mineowners to open up a new [[Face (mining)|coalface]], known as No. 2 Face, in November 1941. It proved difficult to achieve the mine manager's output quota of {{convert|4|LT|tonne}} per day from the new coalface. The management claimed this was because the miners were deliberately working slowly but the miners claimed it was because of difficult working conditions.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|33}} The coal seam at No. 2 Face was unusually variable and working conditions there changed on a weekly basis.<ref name=dover/> The miners claimed that at times the seam was as little as {{convert|2|ft|m}} high, requiring the men to work on their knees in a confined space.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|34}} There were also complaints about air quality and faulty equipment, which the miners claimed cost an hour each shift to repair.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|35}} The miners alleged that the management had started work on the difficult No.2 Face to allow the more productive and easier to work Eastern Face to be closed off. This was allegedly to save the Eastern Face for exploitation after the war, when government subsidies would be withdrawn.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|37-38}} |
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The mine managers refused to accept the arguments put forward by the miners and took action; instead of paying the minimum wage, which had been set by agreements dating to 1933, the management stated they would only pay a [[piecework]] rate for the coal actually produced.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|33}} |
The mine managers refused to accept the arguments put forward by the miners and took action; instead of paying the minimum wage, which had been set by agreements dating to 1933, the management stated they would only pay a [[piecework]] rate for the coal actually produced.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|33}} The miners' union disputed this but failed to make progress and the union branch president and secretary both resigned over the matter. The [[Board of Trade]]'s [[Secretary for Mines|Department of Mines]] agreed to arbitrate in the dispute and sent [[Charles Doughty (lawyer)|Sir Charles Doughty]] to decide on the matter.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|35}} Doughty was a veteran arbitrator and solicitor with experience in coal mining, though only in the north-west of England.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|36}} Doughty ruled, on 19 December, that the 4-ton target for No.2 Face was achievable and that the rate per ton paid by the mine was generous. He did recommend that an additional bonus of 1 shilling 1 penny (£{{£sd|s=1|d=1}}) be paid for coal produced from No. 2 Face in recognition of the difficult working conditions.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|35}} |
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== Strike == |
== Strike == |
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[[File:Shepherdswell, East Kent Railway (geograph 2592899).jpg|thumb|One of the mine's coal wagons]] |
[[File:Shepherdswell, East Kent Railway (geograph 2592899).jpg|thumb|One of the mine's coal wagons]] |
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The colliery management implemented the wage reductions on 8 January and, after discovering this, the miners commenced strike action the following morning.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|33}}{{rp|36}} |
The colliery management implemented the wage reductions on 8 January and, after discovering this, the miners commenced strike action the following morning.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|33}}{{rp|36}} Bornstein (1986) records that 1,600 miners went on strike while Mak (2015) states there were 2,000, and this did not include the workers on the surface who were prevented from working due to the cessation of the coal supply.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bornstein |first1=Sam |last2=Richardson |first2=Al |title=The War and the International: A History of the Trotskyist Movement in Britain, 1937-1949 |date=1986 |publisher=Socialist Platform |isbn=978-0-9508423-3-2 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2siAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name=mak/>{{rp|36}} The strike attracted some attention, strikers were interviewed by the social research organisation [[Mass-Observation]], and there was much press coverage, most of which was unfavourable and described the miners as unpatriotic for striking during a time of [[total war]].<ref name=mak/>{{rp|32}}{{rp|41}} The miners disputed the press claims and noted that they had continued to work the mine during air raids, including one that hit the colliery buildings, and that 250 miners had joined the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] and continued to report for duty throughout the strike.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|45}}{{rp|46}} |
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It was decided to instigate prosecutions against the striking miners, though Minister of Labour and National Service [[Ernest Bevin]] advised against this.<ref name="field">{{cite book|last1=Field|first1=Geoffrey G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o4ZjYbhPxpIC|title=Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939–1945|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-960411-1|location=Oxford|page=116|language=en|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.001.0001}}</ref> One legal issue was that Order 1305 had been drafted in haste and was vaguely worded. There was concern that some miners may not have been aware that it was illegal to strike and the Department of Mines sent officers to explain this to the miners.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|50}} The strike continued and a trial was held at Canterbury on 23 January.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|51}} The miners held a procession to the court accompanied by bands and crowds of women and children.<ref name=field/> The miners particularly feared a prison sentence which would prevent them from finding work at other mines.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|54}} |
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The three union branch leaders involved in the strike faced civil charges for [[breach of contract]] as well as criminal charges under Order 1305 and under regulation 58AA of the [[Defence Regulations]].<ref name=mak/>{{rp|51}} The civil prosecution proceeded first and the prosecution set out its case focusing on the alleged unpatriotic conduct of the miners. The prosecution then withdrew the charges, which prevented the defendants from responding to the allegations.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|43-44}} The criminal case focused on the legal question of whether the miners had given the required 21 days' notice to the ministry for arbitration and not on the rights and wrongs of the pay dispute.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|51}} The defendants were found guilty. One official was sentenced to two months' imprisonment with [[Penal labour|hard labour]] and the other two received one-month sentences.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|52}} The 35 miners working on No. 2 Face received £3 fines and 1,050 other striking miners were fined £1.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|52}} The fines, if not paid, would result in imprisonment with hard labour.<ref name=dover/> One of the union officials imprisoned, Tudor Davies, was well known in the community and was himself a [[justice of the peace]].<ref name=mak/>{{rp|52}} |
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[[File:David Grenfell.jpg|thumb|David Rhys Grenfell]] |
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The Ministry of Labour and the Home Office received a record number of letters in support of the strikers and stating that the sentences imposed by the court were excessive.<ref name="mak">{{cite journal|last1=Mak|first1=Ariane|date=2015|title=Spheres of Justice in the 1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike: An Essay in Historical Ethnography|url=https://www.academia.edu/16126163|journal=Historical Studies in Industrial Relations|language=en|issue=36|pages=29–57|doi=10.3828/hsir.2015.36.2|issn=1362-1572}}</ref>{{rp|55}} Before the trial some miners had considered abandoning the strike and returning to work. Their families were suffering through a cold winter without coal, usually obtained at a subsidy from the mine, and some had resorted to furniture and floor boards. However, the trial and sentences passed seem to have hardened their position; a vote among the men on 26 January confirmed that the strike would proceed into a third week.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|53}} Other pits in the region held one-day strikes in sympathy with the Betteshanger workers.<ref name=field/> |
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The government were keen to end the strike over fears it could spread to other mines and threaten production at a key point of the war.<ref name=dover>{{cite web |title=Betteshanger Colliery |url=https://www.dovermuseum.co.uk/Exhibitions/Coal-Mining-in-Kent/History/Betteshanger-Colliery.aspx |website=Dover Museum |access-date=26 June 2020}}</ref> Negotiations between secretary for Mines [[David Rhys Grenfell]], secretary of the Mineworkers' Federation of Great Britain [[Ebby Edwards]] and the three imprisoned officials were held at Maidstone Prison and a settlement reached on 28 January.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}} The mine owners agreed to pay a minimum wage provided the miners agreed to submit to judgement by an adjudicator in cases when the management considered work was intentionally slowed. The officials agreed to this and a subsequent vote by the miners also approved the terms, with the men returning to work the following day.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}} |
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The terms agreed were an almost complete acceptance of the miners' original demands.<ref name=field/><ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}} Grenfell petitioned the Home Office to free the three officials; on 2 February, after 11 days in prison with hard labour (sewing mail bags), the men received a pardon from [[George VI]] and were released.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}} Of those sentenced for participating in the strike only nine paid the fines. Struggling to find prison places for the remainder, and fearing a resumption of the strike, the government remitted the fines in July 1943.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}}<ref name=dover/> A contemporary ''[[Daily Express]]'' article claimed the strike cost the war effort {{convert|9000|LT|tonne}} of coal production.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|40}} |
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If fine not paid woudl have been imprisonment with hard labour. Only 9 miners agreed to pay the fine and, struggling to find prison places for the remainder, the government reached a settlement and freed the imprisoned officials. <ref name=dover/> |
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== Aftermath == |
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Arose after government arbitration decided against the miners case. The Ministry of Mines decided to prosecute (though Bevin advised them not to). 1,050 men were fined. "bands played and women and children cheered the procesion on its way to court". Other pits in the region held one-day strikes in sympathy..<ref name=field>{{cite book |last1=Field |first1=Geoffrey G. |title=Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939-1945 |date=2011 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-960411-1 |page=116 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=o4ZjYbhPxpIC |language=en}}</ref> |
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[[File:Black Lake from Fowlmead Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 669075.jpg|thumb|The site of Betteshanger Colliery in 2008, now part of a country park]] |
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The three officials were the last men to be sentenced to imprisonment under Order 1305 during the war; others would spend time in prison for these offences but only as a result of non-payment of fines.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|55}} The Betteshanger strike was the most publicised strike of the war and the only one to affect coal mines during the Second World War.<ref name=dover/><ref name=field/> The government deliberately limited production quotas after works resumed at Betteshanger, restricting the productivity of the mine. The mine maintained its militant tradition and was the last in the country to return to work after the [[UK miners' strike (1984–85)|1984–85 miners' strike]]. The colliery, the last remaining in Kent, was closed in 1989.<ref name=dover/> |
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Order 1305 was not repealed until 1951. Though intended to limit the number of strikes, the frequency during its period of operation (1940–51) was actually greater than in the period 1931–39.<ref name=bogg>{{cite book |last1=Bogg |first1=Alan |last2=Collins |first2=Jennifer |last3=Freedland |first3=Mark |last4=Herring |first4=Jonathan |title=Criminality at Work |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-257388-9 |page=378 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4_UDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> Because of this the 1968 [[Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations]] cited Order 1305 and the Betteshanger strike as an example of the ineffectiveness of outlawing strikes.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|30}} However Bogg et al (2020) note that, as the economic conditions experienced during the Order 1305 era meant that strikes were more powerful during this time than previously, it is possible that without the order there would have been more strikes. In all, some 109 prosecutions against 6,000 workers were brought during the Second World War, though many were dropped entirely or the defendants merely [[Binding over|bound over to keep the peace]].<ref name=bogg/> |
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The strikers were interviewed by [[Mass-Observation]] <ref name=mak/>{{rp|32}} |
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Much contemporary press reports were critical of the miners who were categorised as anti-patriotic.. <ref name=mak/>{{rp|41}} |
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The ILP claimed the mminers were patriotic, working during air raids on the pit and that 250 had joined the home guard.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|45}} |
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the Home Guard miners continued to turn up for duty guarding the pit during the strike.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|46}} |
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A contemporary Daily Express article claimed the strike cost 9,000 tons of coal production<ref name=mak/>{{rp|40}} |
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the three union branch leaders were also charged under civil legislation with breach of contract. This charged was withdrawn but only after the prosecution had lectured the court on the miner's alledged unpatriotic conduct which, because the charge was withdrawn, the defendants did not have opportunity to rebut.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|43-44}} |
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Order 1305 had been written in haste and was vaguely worded. Some may not have been aware of the ban on strikes, one of the branch secretaries claimed this in court. The illegal nature of the strike was explained to the miners on 16 January by pffocers from the Department of Mines.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|50}} |
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union officials tried at |Canterbury 23 January. The trial focussed only on the legal question of whether the requird 21 days had been given and not on the rights and wrongs of the pay dispute. One official given 2 month sentence and the other 2 one month. The 35 miners on no.2 coalface fined £3 each and the 1,050 other miners £1. with Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment and National Registration Order, 1940, contrary to Article 4 of the said Order and Regulation 58AA of the Defence (General) Regulations, 1939’. One of the officials imprisoned, Tudor Davies, was awell respected man in the commuity and a justice of the peace.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|51}} |
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before the trial some miners had considered returning to work but the sentences seem t ohave hardened the men's position. A vote on 26 January confirmed the strike would continue into its third week. many of the men's families were suffering in a cold winter from a lack of coal, usually obtained at a reduced price from the colliery. Some resorted to burning furniture and floor boards.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|52}} |
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if the men were imprisoned they feared not being able to obtain work at other collieries. <ref name=mak/>{{rp|54}} |
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The Ministry of Labour and the Home Office received a record number of letters in support of the strikers and stating that the sentences impose dby the court were excessive. Several collieries also came out to strike in sympathy. On 28 January an agreement was reached to end the strike, followijng negotiations with the three leaders and leaders, David Rhys Grenfell (Secretary for Mines) and Ebby Edwards (secretary of the Mineworkers’ Federation of Great Britain) at Maidstone Prison. The mine agreed to guarantee the minimum wage as long as the men agreed to a judgement by an arbitrator if the management sconsidered work was being intentionally slowed. The miners also voted to agree to the terms. The terms were an almost complete acceptance of the miners' original demands. Grenfell petitioned the Home Office to free the officials and on 2 February after 11 days of hard labour, sewing mail bags, they received a pardon from the King. They were the last men to be imprisoned during the war directly under Order 1305 (some would be imprisoned for non-payment of fines imposed). No punishment was meted out to the vast majority of miners who refused to pay their fines which were officially rmitted in July 1943 by a government concerned that imprisoning men for nonpayment would result in another strike<ref name=mak>{{cite journal |last1=Mak |first1=Ariane |title=Spheres of Justice in the 1942 Betteshanger Miners’ Strike: An Essay in Historical Ethnography |journal=Historical Studies in Industrial Relations |issue=36 |pages=29–57 |url=https://www.academia.edu/16126163/Spheres_of_Justice_in_the_1942_Betteshanger_Miners_Strike_An_Essay_in_Historical_Ethnography |date=2015|language=en |issn=1362-1572}}</ref>{{rp|55}} |
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Only coal miners strike in the Second World War. Authorities were keen to end the strike over fears it could spread to other miens and threaten production at a key point of the war. Afterwards the government production quotas for the mine were limited, restricting its productivity.<ref name=dover>{{cite web |title=Betteshanger Colliery |url=https://www.dovermuseum.co.uk/Exhibitions/Coal-Mining-in-Kent/History/Betteshanger-Colliery.aspx |website=Dover Museum |accessdate=26 June 2020}}</ref> |
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Order 1305 remained in use until 1951. The average number of strikes during the order's operation was actually more than had been seen in any year sicne 1931, though this could have been because the economic conditions meant that strike action was more powerful during this era. The ministry was hesitant to seek legal action against strikers and onyl 109 prosecutions were brought during the war, involving around 6,000 workers. Many of these prosecutions were subsequently dropped or those involved bound over: none were imprisoned.The three imprisoned ahd their sentences commuted.<ref name=bogg>{{cite book |last1=Bogg |first1=Alan |last2=Collins |first2=Jennifer |last3=Freedland |first3=Mark |last4=Herring |first4=Jonathan |title=Criminality at Work |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-257388-9 |page=378 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=U4_UDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> |
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Most publicised strike of the period. lasted almost 3 weeks.The government settlemen effectively gave the miners what they had demanded<ref name=field/> |
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Strike was referred to by the 1968 [[Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations]] as an example of the ineffectiveneess of outlawing strikes.<ref name=mak/>{{rp|30}} |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:1942 labor disputes and strikes]] |
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[[Category:1942 in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Miners' labour disputes in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Labour history of World War II]] |
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Latest revision as of 23:36, 11 February 2024
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The 1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike took place in January 1942 at the Betteshanger colliery in Kent, England. The strike had its origins in a switch to a new coalface, No. 2. This face was much narrower and harder to work than the previous face and outputs were reduced. The miners proved unable to meet management production quotas and the mine owners refused to pay the previously agreed minimum daily wage, alleging deliberate slow working. An arbitrator called in to review the dispute ruled that the quotas were achievable. The miners disagreed and went on strike from 9 January.
Under wartime regulations, Order 1305, striking was illegal unless the matter had been referred to the Ministry of Labour and National Service for settlement. Prosecutions were made against the strikers; three union officials were imprisoned and 1,085 men fined. The prosecutions hardened the strikers' attitudes and after the strike entered its third week the government began negotiations. A settlement was reached to reinstate the minimum wage and for the men to return to work on 29 January. The imprisoned men received a royal pardon on 2 February and the fines were remitted in July 1943.
Background
[edit]
In order to maintain production outputs during the Second World War the British government passed the Conditions of Employment and National Arbitration Order 1940, commonly referred to as Order 1305.[1] This made it an offence for workers to go on strike unless the Ministry of Labour and National Service failed to refer a labour dispute for settlement by a National Arbitration Tribunal within 21 days. The order had the support of the ministry's National Joint Consultative Committee which included representation from the British Employers' Confederation and the Trades Union Congress.[2]: 29
Betteshanger was the largest colliery in the Kent Coalfield, employing thousands of miners working a seam some 1,500 feet (460 m) below ground level. The mine had a reputation for militancy as many of the miners who took up jobs there after its opening in 1927 had been blacklisted from mines in other parts of the country for their actions during the 1926 general strike. The miners had held a strike in 1938 over the treatment of young employees at the colliery.[3]
The 1942 strike had its origins in a decision by the mineowners to open up a new coalface, known as No. 2 Face, in November 1941. It proved difficult to achieve the mine manager's output quota of 4 long tons (4.1 t) per day from the new coalface. The management claimed this was because the miners were deliberately working slowly but the miners claimed it was because of difficult working conditions.[2]: 33 The coal seam at No. 2 Face was unusually variable and working conditions there changed on a weekly basis.[3] The miners claimed that at times the seam was as little as 2 feet (0.61 m) high, requiring the men to work on their knees in a confined space.[2]: 34 There were also complaints about air quality and faulty equipment, which the miners claimed cost an hour each shift to repair.[2]: 35 The miners alleged that the management had started work on the difficult No.2 Face to allow the more productive and easier to work Eastern Face to be closed off. This was allegedly to save the Eastern Face for exploitation after the war, when government subsidies would be withdrawn.[2]: 37–38
The mine managers refused to accept the arguments put forward by the miners and took action; instead of paying the minimum wage, which had been set by agreements dating to 1933, the management stated they would only pay a piecework rate for the coal actually produced.[2]: 33 The miners' union disputed this but failed to make progress and the union branch president and secretary both resigned over the matter. The Board of Trade's Department of Mines agreed to arbitrate in the dispute and sent Sir Charles Doughty to decide on the matter.[2]: 35 Doughty was a veteran arbitrator and solicitor with experience in coal mining, though only in the north-west of England.[2]: 36 Doughty ruled, on 19 December, that the 4-ton target for No.2 Face was achievable and that the rate per ton paid by the mine was generous. He did recommend that an additional bonus of 1 shilling 1 penny (£0.05) be paid for coal produced from No. 2 Face in recognition of the difficult working conditions.[2]: 35
Strike
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The colliery management implemented the wage reductions on 8 January and, after discovering this, the miners commenced strike action the following morning.[2]: 33 : 36 Bornstein (1986) records that 1,600 miners went on strike while Mak (2015) states there were 2,000, and this did not include the workers on the surface who were prevented from working due to the cessation of the coal supply.[4][2]: 36 The strike attracted some attention, strikers were interviewed by the social research organisation Mass-Observation, and there was much press coverage, most of which was unfavourable and described the miners as unpatriotic for striking during a time of total war.[2]: 32 : 41 The miners disputed the press claims and noted that they had continued to work the mine during air raids, including one that hit the colliery buildings, and that 250 miners had joined the Home Guard and continued to report for duty throughout the strike.[2]: 45 : 46
It was decided to instigate prosecutions against the striking miners, though Minister of Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin advised against this.[5] One legal issue was that Order 1305 had been drafted in haste and was vaguely worded. There was concern that some miners may not have been aware that it was illegal to strike and the Department of Mines sent officers to explain this to the miners.[2]: 50 The strike continued and a trial was held at Canterbury on 23 January.[2]: 51 The miners held a procession to the court accompanied by bands and crowds of women and children.[5] The miners particularly feared a prison sentence which would prevent them from finding work at other mines.[2]: 54
The three union branch leaders involved in the strike faced civil charges for breach of contract as well as criminal charges under Order 1305 and under regulation 58AA of the Defence Regulations.[2]: 51 The civil prosecution proceeded first and the prosecution set out its case focusing on the alleged unpatriotic conduct of the miners. The prosecution then withdrew the charges, which prevented the defendants from responding to the allegations.[2]: 43–44 The criminal case focused on the legal question of whether the miners had given the required 21 days' notice to the ministry for arbitration and not on the rights and wrongs of the pay dispute.[2]: 51 The defendants were found guilty. One official was sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard labour and the other two received one-month sentences.[2]: 52 The 35 miners working on No. 2 Face received £3 fines and 1,050 other striking miners were fined £1.[2]: 52 The fines, if not paid, would result in imprisonment with hard labour.[3] One of the union officials imprisoned, Tudor Davies, was well known in the community and was himself a justice of the peace.[2]: 52
Resolution
[edit]
The Ministry of Labour and the Home Office received a record number of letters in support of the strikers and stating that the sentences imposed by the court were excessive.[2]: 55 Before the trial some miners had considered abandoning the strike and returning to work. Their families were suffering through a cold winter without coal, usually obtained at a subsidy from the mine, and some had resorted to furniture and floor boards. However, the trial and sentences passed seem to have hardened their position; a vote among the men on 26 January confirmed that the strike would proceed into a third week.[2]: 53 Other pits in the region held one-day strikes in sympathy with the Betteshanger workers.[5]
The government were keen to end the strike over fears it could spread to other mines and threaten production at a key point of the war.[3] Negotiations between secretary for Mines David Rhys Grenfell, secretary of the Mineworkers' Federation of Great Britain Ebby Edwards and the three imprisoned officials were held at Maidstone Prison and a settlement reached on 28 January.[2]: 55 The mine owners agreed to pay a minimum wage provided the miners agreed to submit to judgement by an adjudicator in cases when the management considered work was intentionally slowed. The officials agreed to this and a subsequent vote by the miners also approved the terms, with the men returning to work the following day.[2]: 55
The terms agreed were an almost complete acceptance of the miners' original demands.[5][2]: 55 Grenfell petitioned the Home Office to free the three officials; on 2 February, after 11 days in prison with hard labour (sewing mail bags), the men received a pardon from George VI and were released.[2]: 55 Of those sentenced for participating in the strike only nine paid the fines. Struggling to find prison places for the remainder, and fearing a resumption of the strike, the government remitted the fines in July 1943.[2]: 55 [3] A contemporary Daily Express article claimed the strike cost the war effort 9,000 long tons (9,100 t) of coal production.[2]: 40
Aftermath
[edit]
The three officials were the last men to be sentenced to imprisonment under Order 1305 during the war; others would spend time in prison for these offences but only as a result of non-payment of fines.[2]: 55 The Betteshanger strike was the most publicised strike of the war and the only one to affect coal mines during the Second World War.[3][5] The government deliberately limited production quotas after works resumed at Betteshanger, restricting the productivity of the mine. The mine maintained its militant tradition and was the last in the country to return to work after the 1984–85 miners' strike. The colliery, the last remaining in Kent, was closed in 1989.[3]
Order 1305 was not repealed until 1951. Though intended to limit the number of strikes, the frequency during its period of operation (1940–51) was actually greater than in the period 1931–39.[1] Because of this the 1968 Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations cited Order 1305 and the Betteshanger strike as an example of the ineffectiveness of outlawing strikes.[2]: 30 However Bogg et al (2020) note that, as the economic conditions experienced during the Order 1305 era meant that strikes were more powerful during this time than previously, it is possible that without the order there would have been more strikes. In all, some 109 prosecutions against 6,000 workers were brought during the Second World War, though many were dropped entirely or the defendants merely bound over to keep the peace.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bogg, Alan; Collins, Jennifer; Freedland, Mark; Herring, Jonathan (2020). Criminality at Work. Oxford University Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-19-257388-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af Mak, Ariane (2015). "Spheres of Justice in the 1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike: An Essay in Historical Ethnography". Historical Studies in Industrial Relations (36): 29–57. doi:10.3828/hsir.2015.36.2. ISSN 1362-1572.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Betteshanger Colliery". Dover Museum. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ Bornstein, Sam; Richardson, Al (1986). The War and the International: A History of the Trotskyist Movement in Britain, 1937-1949. Socialist Platform. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9508423-3-2.
- ^ a b c d e Field, Geoffrey G. (2011). Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939–1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 116. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-960411-1.