wages based on the price of coal. Different sliding scales were defined in 1875, 1880, 1882, 1890 and 1892. The scale of 1 January 1892 was agreed by representatives of the Coal Owners Association and delegates representing the colliery workmen other than enginemen, stokers and outside fitters. The principle was that wages were based on the rates paid by the collieries under the December 1879 agreement, with a percentage increase or decrease based on the selling price of coal. This price was determined every two months as the average net selling price of coal delivered free on board at the docks of Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and Barry. The hewers received piece rates based on the net weight of coal extracted after eliminating small coal, paid every two weeks. The Sliding-Scale committee had to mediate constant disputes over wages between members. The Times of 29 December 1891 described the Association as follows, The Times went on to describe that the men were fully aware of the huge resources of the mine-owner, backed up by the Association, and also that if they worked at a colliery immediately before a strike they would not be employed by any of the Association members. The sliding scale was used to force both coalowners and workers to accept standard wages. If a worker refused, he would not find work in any of the Association's collieries. History Before World War I The driving force behind the creation of the Association was William Thomas Lewis (1837–1914), one of the largest colliery owners, who also owned most of the Cardiff Docks and many other enterprises. Sidney Webb described him in the 1890s as "the best-hated man" among Welsh workers. Lewis was the architect of the sliding scale agreement, introduced in 1875. The arrangement was unstable. In 1892 concern was expressed that the sliding scale, which had raised the men's wages by 60%, might be terminated by December, affecting 80,000 men in 200 collieries. In August–September 1893 the South Wales coal workers went on strike over a 25% wage reduction caused by the sliding scale linked to a fall in the price of coal. The strike seemed to be collapsing by 31 August 1893, when it was estimated that 60,000 miners were working, more than half the total. That day the Emergency Committee of the Coal Owners' Association published a statement saying collieries producing half the assured output of the