ABSTRACT
The coal industry conciliation boards were responsible for setting the absolute rate of wages for the majority of pits in the British coalfields during the period 1893–1914. The piece rates were negotiated locally and differed from seam to seam; the percentage addition was negotiated at district level by the conciliation boards. The conciliation boards were joint committees of the Coal Owners’ Associations and the Trades Unions. The data lying behind the present study are the verbatim records of the conciliation boards’ negotiations over wage rates. An unresolved issue in the theoretical literature is the question of the proportion of settlements within an arbitral regime that will be settled by arbitration, rather than by negotiations. If the cost of arbitration is higher than the maximum expected utility gained by arbitration then the union will be better off accepting the owners’ offer.
