ABSTRACT
No economy was too petty to be considered. Early in 1922 there were disputes over reductions in allowance coal with the Staveley and Butterley companies. At the other extreme there were direct attacks on wages. The Staveley Company chose to reduce tonnage rates. In December, 1921, notices were posted at the Hartington and Ireland collieries stating that unless the men accepted reductions in the rates for machine-cut coal the pits would be closed. It was not long before the owners of the soft-coal pits made a concerted effort to reduce basic rates. During the war, when coal of all descriptions was urgently needed, the same tonnage rates had been paid for both soft and hard coal. As wages were reduced by various means, relations between the miners and their employers steadily deteriorated. The Staveley Company brought forward a number of witnesses who testified that Iliffe had used abusive and inflammatory language on various occasions.
