1942 Betteshanger miners' strike

A statue of a miner at the now-closed coal mine

The 1942 Betteshanger Miners' Strike took place in January 1942 at the Betteshanger colliery in Kent, England.

Background

Miners at Tylesley during the 1926 strike

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. 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.

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.

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. The coal seam at No. 2 Face was unusually variable and working conditions there changed on a weekly basis. 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. There were also complaints about air quality and faulty equipment, which the miners claimed cost an hour each shift to repair. 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 This was allegedly to save the Eastern Face for exploitation after the war, when government subsidies would be withdrawn.

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. 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. Doughty was a veteran arbitrator and solicitor with experience in coal mining, though only in the north-west of England. 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 pence (£0.05) be paid for coal produced from No. 2 Face in recognition of the difficult working conditions.

Strike

One of the mine's coal wagons

The colliery management implemented the wage reductions on 8 January and, after discovering this, the miners commenced strike action the following morning. Bornstein (1986) records that 1,6000 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. 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. 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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

if the men were imprisoned they feared not being able to obtain work at other collieries.

A contemporary Daily Express article claimed the strike cost 9,000 tons of coal production

Resolution and aftermath

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

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.

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.

Most publicised strike of the period. lasted almost 3 weeks.The government settlemen effectively gave the miners what they had demanded

Strike was referred to by the 1968 Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations as an example of the ineffectiveneess of outlawing strikes.