Nightcaps mine

This 1907 image shows the coal mine at Nightcaps, the site of the southernmost labour dispute in the Great Strike of 1913.

One hundred of the mine’s workers went on strike on 9 November 1913 in support of miners and watersiders around the country. Only 15 men refused to join the strike, and the Nightcaps miners stayed out until early January 1914. After the mine manager reported trouble, Inspector Samuel Norwood of the Invercargill police visited the town on 12 November, only to find that all was peaceful. Apart from a few minor incidents, this peace was maintained throughout the strike. Management helped set up a new union under the arbitration act in December 1913. In early January the majority of Nightcaps miners returned to work, although management refused to re-employ the unionists they saw as the ringleaders of the strike.