Strife

Strife  – The play opens at the home of the factory manager, Francis Underwood, where the board of directors is meeting during a five-month-long strike at the Trenartha Tin Plate Works. The workers and their families are starving and suffering in the severe cold. A trade union official, Simon Harness, advises compromise, noting the union has withdrawn official support because some demands are excessive. However, John Anthony, the elderly, iron-wwilled company chairman, refuses any concessions, having defeated four previous strikes. David Roberts, the equally unyielding leader of the workers’ committee, demands the strike continue until all demands are met. The meeting ends in a deadlock. Enid Underwood, Anthony’s daughter, expresses sympathy for the workers, particularly Annie Roberts, her former maid, who is seriously ill.