The Ironfounders' Society and two kindred Unions, whose members make
the mouldings and castings for the steel trades, declared a strike last Saturday. Fifty thousand men are directly affected, and the trades dependent on them are seriously inconvenienced. The 'Minister of Labour has explained that the three Unions declared a strike because the Court of Arbitration had decided against their claim for a further advance of wages by fifteen shillings a week. The fifty-one Unions in the engineering and foundry trades agreed in February, 1917, to submit their claims for higher wages every four months, and to abide by the awards of the Committee on Production, now replaced by the Court of Arbitration. The employers also agreed to accept the awards. The last claim by the fifty- one Unions was made in June, and wis rejected by the Court in July, when the employers' counter-claim for a reduction of five shillings was also dismissed. Forty-eight Unions accepted the decision, intending to renew their claim next month. The three Ironfounders' Unions, however, gave notice to terminate the agreement by which, as the Minister says, they were " morally bound," and ordered a strike by which all their fellow. workers in the steel trades will suffer, to say nothing of the community as a whole. When we remember that Mr. Henderson is the leader of the ironfounders, we cannot help feeling dis- couraged. For Mr. Henderson knows, and often says, that a strike, like a war, should not be declared on any trivial pretext, and yet his Unions have struck rather than wait a few weeks for a renewed hearing in the Court of Arbitration.
