The Welsh coal strike of 1898 was an industrial dispute involving the colliers of South Wales and Monmouthshire. The strike began as an attempt by the colliers to remove the sliding scale, which determined their wage based on the price of coal. The strike quickly turned into a disastrous lockout which would last for six months and result in a failure for the colliers as the sliding scale stayed in place. The strike is seen as an important landmark in Welsh history as it saw the true adoption of trade unionism in the southern coalfield which had been slow to take hold before then. The South Wales Miners' Federation was the largest trade union to have originated from this dispute.
Read more about Welsh Coal Strike Of 1898: Reasons For The Action, Attempts To Resolve The Strike, Outcome of The Action, Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words welsh, coal and/or strike:
“When one has been threatened with a great injustice, one accepts a smaller as a favour.”
—Jane Welsh Carlyle (1801–1866)
“In those days, the blag slag, the waste of the coal pits, had only begun to cover the side of our hill. Not enough to mar the countryside nor blacken the beauty of our village. For the colliery had only begun to poke its skinny black fingers between the green.”
—Philip Dunne (1908–1992)
“The first to strike will gain the upper hand.”
—Chinese proverb.