FIVE DAYS' WORK A WEEK.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1668, 7 February 1913, Page 5

FIVE DAYS' WORK A WEEK.

WELSH MINES AGAINST IT. fey; Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright London, February 5.' ■The ballot'en the five-day .week question taken by tho North Wales Miners' Union resulted: For; 2&5; against, 5289. •'The present ballot is being taken in consequence of La, decision arrived at at the Miners' Federation 'Conference in October last.- . '■ .-. /'■,.' ,'-..'■ iijAt tho conferenco, .Alderman W. House (Durham) moved: "That tha Federation adopt a five days' working week for all miners in this country." He considered that five days a week' was sufficiently long for men to work underground ina hazardous occupation such as coalmining. Incidentally it would follow that the adoption of a five days' working week would put some check on the output of coal, and in so far as it affected the output of coal it would assist them in maintaining higher selling prices and tnablo them to maintain a higher rate of wages. I After a lengthy debate, in which opin-1 ions were divided, tho resolution was carried on a card vote by 300,000 for to 283,000 against. The districts who voted for the resolution were Lancashire, Nottingham, North Wales. Forest of Dean, Northumberland, and Durham; the dis-. tricts opposed were Yorkshire, Midland Federation, Derbyshire, South Derbyshire, Leicestershire, South Wales, Bristol. Somerset, and Cumberland; The president advised the conference, in view of the closeness of the votes, 1 to take a ballot of the men. It was absolutely impossible to plit it ill force on figures such a3 those. ,It was then resolved to take a ballot on the question of! a five-days' week. ' '"'■.■'■