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
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 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 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 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 penny (£) be paid for coal produced from No. 2 Face in recognition of the difficult working conditions.