Huntly Miners' Union Hall

There was little trouble throughout most of the Huntly miners’ strike. From October through to December there were over 500 strikers and only four strike breakers. The police took a conciliatory approach, while the union maintained tight discipline over the striking miners. In January 1914 a minority group of workers, wanting to end the strike, formed a new arbitrationist union with the support of the Taupiri Coal Mines Company. On 6 January, as strikebreakers started work, mounted police clashed with striking miners from the old union. On 14 January the striking miners voted to return to work. The next day strikebreakers from the new union seized the Miners’ Union Hall, evicting striking members of the old union.

See more images of Huntly during the 1913 strike here (Flickr)