In 1886, the coopers were again in dispute over the introduction of new machinery which would cut their "already low wages" by 33 per cent. When they refused to accept the managers terms they went out on strike. Eventually, the manager agreed to take back all but three who were regarded as ringleaders, who should be suspended for some time at least as "an example". The company threatened the closure of the cooperage and the use of machine made casks. There was a general decline in coopering in Cork at the end of the last century so that efforts to get the permission of the Cork coopers society to try to find work in the city were in vain.