• 1905 opening of the Luton Town ground on which strike meetings were held in 1917

It was mooted some little time back that there was trouble in the ranks of that essential concomitant of war, the engineering industry, and a fortnight ago last Sunday the position had reached the point when the unrest had become national, and Luton, with its not insignificant quota, became concerned in the trouble.

There was a largely attended meeting at the Town Hall, as a result of which vague threats leaked out. It was hardly expected they would mature, but last week the intensity of the situation became more pronounced, and the Luton members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, with certain federated trades, left their work on Friday evening and asserted that they would return until their grievances had been redressed.

What is the grievance? One of the most troublesome matters connected with the war has been the lack of co-ordination by the War Office and the Ministry of Munitions, due in part to the short-sightedness of both. In the case of the War Office, there has been frequent lack of discrimination in the demand for men; in the other thee was an indiscriminate protection of the manpower within its compass.

Both are entitled to all they can obtain from the theoretical point of view, but from the practical point of view the country's needs have not been studied from the combined standpoint until the Munitions of War Amendment Bill was evolved. This threatened to divert a stream of labour from the process of munitions into the Army, and since the Unions have increased in strength by the demand for all munition workers to be trades unionists, it was thought that in certain quarters that this was an infringement of the moral rights of the Unions, and the first active protest was made at Rochdale.

Then the movement spread to other engineering centres and, although the Government contends that the strike is unauthorised by the headquarters of the Union, the stoppage has become of national importance, and thus Luton is implicated.

So vital is this blow from within that the Government has issued the following proclamation: "The Government cannot permit the strike to continue and thus to aggravate the delay in the production of munitions of war. They therefore call upon all loyal citizens to resume work immediately, and they give notice that all persons who incite to any stoppage of work on munitions are guilty of an offence under the Defence of the Realm Regulations, the penalty for which is penal servitude for life or such less punishment as may be awarded."

In view of the fact that many allied industries have repudiated the strike, the Government have declared that it is as much a protest against the executive authority of the trade unions as against any Government action, and they have also intimated an intention to take measures to prevent the country's interests suffering by reason of the institutional disagreement.

There is some justification for this action, because it is officially declared: "The Amalgamated Society of Engineers state that neither their Executive Committee not their London District Committees have authorised any cessation of work at the present time, either in the London district or elsewhere."

The news that the Luton engineers have taken this grave step spread through the town, and the Mayor (Alderman J. H. Staddon) and the Town Clerk (Mr William Smith), with characteristic promptitude, concerned themselves in the duty of allaying any trouble.

It was evident that both civilian and military opinion was dead against the cessation of work, and at Biscot in particular the feeling was very bitter. This was more or less excusable since to and from Biscot are now going and coming men who have been in the fighting line and who know the unexaggerated importance of munitions. Of the principles at stake from the industrial standpoint they knew little and cared less.

It was not until Saturday that they realised that among the men who had downed tools were many wearing the silver badge and the gold braid which bespeak active service and wounds. Consequently, a small party made some semblance of a demonstration on Friday at the Labour Club, Bute Street, but they were pacified by the Mayor.

His Worship and the Town Clerk met a deputation of the strikers at the Town Hall on Saturday morning, remaining in close conference for two hours, and as the outcome they were invited to address a mass meeting of the strikers on the Town football ground on Saturday afternoon.

Here again the military and a small knot of civilians demonstrated their discontent with the strikers, but the military authorities had provided picquets on the ground. In the approaches they relieved the police of what might have been a formidable task. Attempts were made by small 'platoons' to effect an entrance, but without success, and eventually groups of soldiers were allowed at the ground on parole.

Speeches were made by the Mayor and Town Clerk advising the strikers to conduct themselves honourably and to avoid any breach of the peace, and, when some soldiers were inclined to depart from the terms under which their presence was admitted, the tactful methods of the First Citizen and the Town Clerk smoothed over the difficulty.

It was anticipated that as a result of the meeting there would be a resumption of work on Monday, but this did not materialise and probably led to the fear of the community being disturbed on Saturday night. On the initiative of the Mayor, however, measures were taken which obviated this trouble, and so the weekend passed without serious incident.

On Tuesday morning the strikers were again in conference on the Town football ground, and the Mayor and Town Clerk were present and made placable speeches and gave good advice. Thee were about 1,000 present, and the proceedings were in private. The only soldier present was a sergeant-major, who was there in the interests of order, but he had as dull a duty as that of the Press, waiting outside, listening to the frequent applause and watching through the cracks of the gate for signs of the end of the meeting.

After about 40 minutes ballot papers were given out, the men being asked to vote for a resumption of work on Wednesday morning or to delay restart until the matter had been dealt with by the Union authorities in London. Shortly after noon, as a smart storm was abating, the result was announced and was received with applause, an overwhelming majority having voted for delay.

The Mayor and the Town Clerk attended a further meeting on the Town football ground yesterday, admission again being by card and the Press being debarred.

In view of the failure of the negotiations which took place in London on Tuesday evening, the situation was regarded as of increased seriousness, and it was apparent that the men would not return to work on Thursday. Delegates were appointed to journey to London to meet delegates of other affected areas, and they went up yesterday afternoon.

To a Luton News representative the Mayor said last night: "It is not for me to apportion the blame or to attempt to advise men at a time like the present. The line I have taken is that I believe to be consistent with the position I hold as Mayor.

"My chief concern is with the maintenance of good order among the community and to assist in any way possible to restore that harmony which has been such an admirable feature of the town ever since the war began.

"I understand there has been some little comment on my action in visiting the Labour Club last Friday evening. I should have adopted the same course had either the Liberal or Conservative Clubs been involved. My visits to the conferences of the strikers have been solely for the purpose of reducing to a minimum the possibility of any communal trouble.

"I have not attempted to advise the strikers on matters with which I am not competent to deal, and the appeals I have made have been based on a desire to bring to as speedy an end as possible this lamentable cessation from work.

"It is an extremely difficult time for all of us. Many of us are worried and anxious because our own kith and kin and fighting in France or elsewhere and dependant on the efficiency of the supply of material from home. Any dissatisfaction there may be has been admirably restricted, and I am very gratified with the manner in which the burgesses have accepted the situation, refraini9ng from demonstration for or against the strikers.

"I have acted entirely on the advice of the Town Clerk, who has very generously accompanied and assisted me in the endeavours to assuage any difficulties with which we were faced.

"My chief concern is that the Government departments responsible have not been able to find any solution of the trouble and have not given those entrusted with municipal government any encouragement or a lead of any kind which we might take to bring the local disputes to an end.

"I am quite convinced that if it was left in the hands of the men and their employers and the municipal authorities,that so far as Luton is concerned we should find work proceeding as amicably as ever within a few hours.

"Under all the circumstances the trouble we have had has been infinitesimal, and I shall be quite content if the town passes the next weekend as quietly as the last. Before then, however, I hope we shall have seen the end of all the discontent and that we shall have resumed our 'bit' towards the winning of the war."

One unnamed Union leader gave the following unofficial statement to The Luton News. He said: "It is difficult to make the public realise exactly the position, and we know that the people generally have one thought uppermost in their minds, namely the welfare of the boys at the Front.

"Now you must have seen the men on strike and you must have noticed two things - that a large number are discharged soldiers and that a large number of elderly men on strike must have sons at the Front. Now is it feasible that these two classes would join us without good reason?

"The whole trouble lies in the fact that the Ministry of Munitions, like the rest of this Government, has failed absolutely to understand the men under its control. The Trade Unions are in the grip of the Government, but the men are not.

"The Union cannot sanction a strike, because if so the Government may seize the funds. The A.S.E. cannot countenance this strike, but the shops stewards committees may and have done so and, after all, they are the real backbone of the Union.

"We are on strike because of two things. Firstly, because the Government, after a pledge by the Prime Minister to apply dilution to war work, wishes to enforce it for private work also. That is dead against the principle of our Union. In the second place it is against the withdrawal of the 'trade card'. That also we are not going to submit quietly to, for it is allowing the War Office to come in and revoke what has been a solemn covenant.

"We are not on strike for the fun of the thing. It is a serious matter, but we are determined to win."

[The Luton News: Thursday, May 17th, 1917]

[The men began returning to work  May 20th, 1917]