The whole cotton industry of Lancashire came to a standstill
on Monday because employers and employed could not agree on the percentage by which wages should be reduced. The employers asked for a reduction of 80 per cent. in the piece rates, which are 215 per cent, above the standard. The operatives offered to accept a reduction of 40 per cent., and then, at a conference on Friday, June 3rd, expressed their readiness to make a reduction of 50 per cent. Finally, the employers pro- posed a reduction of 70 per cent. if the operatives' leaders would recommend their unions to accept it. The operatives replied by asking the employers to offer a reduction of 70 per cent. without• conditions. The men in the Lancashire cotton trade are hard bargainers, and at this stage the negotiations were broken off. Both sides are perfectly organized and know their business thoroughly. But it seems a pity that the industry should stop, even for a day or two, when the question in dispute was relatively trivial and might have been submitted to arbitra- tion, as the operatives are said to have suggested.
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