Coal Strike?

From outer appearances Britain drifted silently toward a battle between the public and the workers.

The court which the Government set up (TIME, July 20) to inquire into the causes of the dispute* in the mining industry was boycotted by the mine workers who declined to recognize its competence unless the mine operators first withdrew their wage-agreement notice. The operators remained adamant. The court was adjourned temporarily after one ten-minute session.

Meantime, a meeting of trade-union executives was held in London. Two important decisions were made:

1) Not to call a strike without first taking a ballot.

2) To support a union of miners, railwaymen, engineers, shipbuilders and transport workers.

The last, if passed by the respective unions, will be a move of great significance ; for it will mean that whenever there is a dispute between any one of the unions and a second party, the alliance of unions, embracing millions of workers, will hold the general public up by a national strike.

*The operators are not seeking to reduce wages but to increase the working day. They have given notice that the present wage agreement must terminate at the end of July.