Much of Wales tied up as steel strike grows
| London
The British steel strike escalated Monday, with large areas of Wales ties up by protest stoppages and by union battling to overturn a controversial court order. Coal mines and docks were at a standstill and rail and bus services halted as Welsh unions staged a "day of action" to back the 180,000 striking workers employed by the state-owned British Steel Corporation.
The 24-hour protest strike was particularly effective in southern Wales, where thousands of jobs are threatened if the month-old steel dispute drags on. An estimated 100,000 workers took part in the protest, and a mass rally in the Welsh capital of Cardiff denounced the Conservative government's proposals to prune the money-losing corporation.
