In 1885 it was a momentous year for the Elba Works when a mill allowed the rolling of steel billets into rods used for the manufacture of rivets, hooks and chains was introduced and a new stand rolling mill commissioned there a year later. Sadly this continuous growth of new technique steel making with all the advantages of continued full employment was halted on March 17th 1888 when the Elba Works was hit by its first strike, which continued until the year-end. With diminishing markets nation wide for steel sales, Wright, Butler & Co. proposed a 20% reduction in wages with a proviso that this would be fully restored when the market price for steel moved upwards, a request countered by the employees who demanded an advance of 20% on their current wages to bring them in line with their English steel making counterparts. In the deadlock situation which arose the 60 members seen here who were members of the newly formed Smelters Union withdrew their labour bringing the works to a halt and later the Wright, Butler Works at Panteg. A suggestion from the Union that the dispute be referred to arbitration was not accepted by the Company who brought in outside labour (referred to by the Elba workmen as "blacklegs") in their attempt to continue production. Resentment and bitterness reigned in the village where black flags hung from the houses of the employees of the Company and many processions marched through the main streets with banners bearing the portraits of those non-unionists still employed at the works. Following the abandonment of the strike by the men at the end of the year, further bitterness arose when the management only re-employed a small percentage of the original employees on the re-opening of the works.
