1893 saw a huge lock-out of miners in the Midlands, with nearly 320,000 men who were objecting to a reduction in pay being thrown out of work. The conflict encouraged Mundella to introduce a Bill to enable the establishment of local boards of conciliation and arbitration whenever and wherever they might be required. Mundella had professed the healing power of conciliation and arbitration for over thirty years, and it was as the result of conciliation that the coal strike was settled. Mundella's influence in this success was readily recognised. His Bill to establish the local boards eventually became law as the Conciliation and Arbitration Act under the Conservatives in 1896.