TRAMS AND BUSES STRIKE TO CONTINUE.

The settlement of the strike of London tram and omnibus drivers and conductresses was not brought about, as had been hoped for, as a result of the conferences held yesterday at the suggestion of Sir George Askwith, Chief Industrial Commissioner. There were three meetings at the Ministry of Labour. The first was at one o’clock, when Sir George Askwith met the representatives of The Transport Workers’ Federation and the Licensed Vehicle Workers’ Union. Later in the afternoon he conferred with the representatives of the employers. At five o’clock the representatives of both parties were brought into consultation with each other by Sir George, who then withdrew, leaving the two sets of representatives to endeavour to thrash out the matter by themselves. After a discussion lasting two hours and a quarter, the employers came away from the meeting, the workers’ leaders remaining behind to consider the question of a resumption of work, pending a possible adjustment of the difficulty.

Acting as spokesman for the half-dozen representatives of the companies, Mr. Blain (London General Omnibus Company) stated that no settlement of the dispute had been arrived at, and there was no indication of a satisfactory result at present. The other side, he added, had admitted that the dispute was not with the employers, but with the award of the Committee on Production. There appeared to be no prospect at this juncture of arbitration, or of the award being varied. The men’s leaders concluded their private talk a quarter of an hour later, and Mr. Robert Williams, Secretary of the Transport Workers’ Federation, informed the Press representatives that the position remained unchanged. “Everything,” he said, “now depends upon what takes place at the conference which is to be held at the federation offices in St. Martin’s-place on Wednesday between the Federation and the Vehicle Workers’ Union. Meanwhile the strike continues.” Another of the leaders, in reply to a question, said it was very probable the strike would spread in the meantime, as several meetings of other workers were to be held to-day.

The strike – which up to last night had not affected the London County Council tramway service, nor, save to some extent in one instance, the Underground Railways and the Tubes – had its origin in the demand of the conductresses on certain lines that the 5s additional “war wage” recently awarded by the Committee on Production to men doing similar work should be extended to them.

The trouble has spread to the provinces, and our Brighton Correspondent telegraphed last night that considerable inconvenience had been caused to the crowds of holiday-makers by the stopping of the ’buses and the dislocation of the tramway system. At Bath, also, there was a stoppage of work.