ensure that Social Security benefits were paid to claimants. 18 May: Day four of the strike A statement was issued by the UWC indicating that they favoured escalating the strike, calling for an all-out stoppage to commence at midnight on Sunday 19 May. There was still some scepticism about the chances of success for the strike at this point as it had yet to win much support amongst the Protestant middle classes and skilled workers. Indeed, even Rev. Robert Bradford, a member of the Vanguard, had argued that morning that the strike should be ended as he believed the politicians could bring down the Executive on their own. Nonetheless a note of caution was sounded when the Executive was informed that the British Army would not be able to run the power stations alone and attempts were made to open negotiations between the UWC and the Northern Ireland Labour Party. A member of the UDA shot dead UVF member Joseph Shaw during a fight in North Star Bar on North Queen Street, Belfast. 19 May: Day five of the strike Merlyn Rees declared a State of Emergency under Section Forty of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Rees then flew to Chequers for talks with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Meanwhile, the United Ulster Unionist Council met and decided to publicly declare their support for the UWC, which in turn withdrew its earlier call for an all-out stoppage. 20 May: Day six of the strike With the public support of the UUUC now secured the UWC set up a co-ordinating committee to run the strike on more professional lines. Chaired by Glenn Barr, a leading figure in both the Vanguard and the UDA, the group consisted of around fifteen members including the three political party leaders, three UWC members and the heads of the loyalist paramilitaries. The first meeting of the committee revealed some friction as Barr entered late and found Ian Paisley sitting at the head of the table. Barr told him "you might be chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party but I'm chairman of the co-ordinating committee, so move over". Paisley moved from the head of the table but carried the chair away with him and the two argued over the chair itself, with Paisley eventually allowed to retain it as he claimed to need a chair with arms due to his back pain. As a result of