On the Chin

Strikes are comparatively rare in Britain these days. Most British workers have been willing enough to heed their government's pleas, swallow their grievances and stay on the job. But there are some things a self-respecting Briton can't swallow. That was the way of it with 26-year-old Alf Cole, driver's mate on a lorry owned by Wells and Winch, the big brewers of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Three weeks ago a pal bet Alf 10 shillings and two gallons of beer that he couldn't grow a beard and keep it on till Easter. Alf figured the bet was a cinch, because he had grown a beard last summer and none of his bosses had said a word. This time, however, Brewery Manager Jack Redmund (who had been Alf's officer in the territorials during the war) issued an ultimatum: "Shave it off or work inside." A brewery executive explained: "We didn't feel that the growth of the beard upheld the prestige of our delivery to our customers."

Alf took a job in the barrel room at a 5-shilling cut in wages, but he was far from happy. "Redmund smokes a pipe," he grumbled. "I don't like it, but I ain't saying anything." A reporter from the Daily Herald printed the remark and Alf got the sack.

Last week 38 Biggleswade unionists went on strike against Wells and Winch, claimed they had cut deliveries to the brewery's 370 pubs by one-third. With three weeks still to go before Easter, Alf's sporting friend offered to pay off the bet and forget the whole business. But Alf, taking his turn on the picket line, turned the offer down cold. "After all," he said, and his fellow strikers agreed, "it's the principle of the thing. A man has a right to grow a beard any time he wants."

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