Welsh coal strike of 1898

The Welsh coal strike of 1898 was an industrial dispute involving the colliers of South Wales and Monmouthshire. The strike began as an attempt by the colliers to remove the sliding scale, which determined their wage based on the price of coal. The strike quickly turned into a disastrous lockout which would last for six months and result in a failure for the colliers as the sliding scale stayed in place. The strike is seen as an important landmark in Welsh history as it saw the true adoption of trade unionism in the southern coalfield which had been slow to take hold before then. The South Wales Miners' Federation was the largest trade union to have originated from this dispute.

Towards the end of 1897 relations between south Wales colliers, led by Liberal MP William 'Mabon' Abraham and the coalowners had become strained. Apart from the obvious wealth of the coalowners, the miners were also unhappy about a system used to determine wages called the sliding scale. The sliding scale was a system whereby the collier's salary was based not only on how much coal they could mine but on the price the coal fetched at market. The miners argued that the scale could be abused by traders and did not prevent cut-throat competition; also there was no minimum to the scale. This led to many miners facing financial difficulties and in September 1897 the miners gave six months' notice to terminate the scale. The coalowners retaliated with what they described as, precautionary measures, to terminate contracts which would come into effect at the same time as the colliers' ultimatum.

Before the deadline for both actions passed in March 1898, negotiations began to prevent any action. The negotiations were still underway with the deadline of March 31 looming, so both parties agreed to extend talks until April 9. The discussions broke down before the deadline as the colliers refused the options being presented to them, and they walked out of the pits on mass. The miners' demands had been a minimum price per coal of 10 shillings a ton, a sliding scale of 10% not the 8.75% in operation, plus an immediate advance of 10%. The coalowners' compromise had been below those requested on all three demands.

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