Hours and Wages At least one British industry, that of
engineering, has been able to adjust wages and working conditions without a stoppage. On Saturday, June 20th, the union leaders and employers reached agreement, and on Tuesday the executives of the unions accepted the terms. They will take effect from July 6th. It is encouraging also that the International Labour Conference was able to adopt by eighty-one votes to two the Draft Convention on hours of work in coal mines, though all the employers' delegates abstained from voting. It is rather ironical therefore that the mining industry in this country should this week be discussing terms which involve the continuation of the present hours, longer than those prescribed by the convention. The unions are apparently willing tb agree, provided that the employers will guarantee present rates of wages for longer than the period of their present offer, which is for six months. The employers are to decide this week, and it seems at least likely that the Draft Convention may await ratification by this country for a considerable time.
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