On Wednesday morning, Mr. Thomas, for the third time within
a week, declared that the railwaymen and transport workers would strike. They would begin at ten o'clock on Friday night. This time he offered no alternative. He added that " many other unions have sent in applications to join the strike." The engine-drivers' union decided to follow Mr. Thomas's lead. The railway clerks were advised by their executive to do the same. The executive of the Electrical Trades Union, whose secretary is an active Communist, resolved to strike, though the members were not consulted. While the miners in a manifesto made it clear that they were striking not for wages but for a reversal of Parliament's decision to free the coal industry from control, the " Triple Alliance " in another manifesto issued at the same time denied that they were engaged in " a political fight " or that they were " pro- claiming a revolution."
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