The most severe labor disputes in Japan are often about company efforts to dismiss workers or reduce the size of their labor force, rather than disputes over wages and working conditions. One of the most severe labor disputes in postwar Japan occurred at the Miike coal mine in Omuta, Kyushu, in 1959-1960. As part of a national restructuring in the coal industry, in 1959 the Mitsui company announced plans to close the Miike mine, which would put thousands of miners out of work. The miners went on strike to protest the planned closures. The dispute continued for over a year and attracted nationwide support. Sōhyō provided national leadership and support for the strikers. Eventually the company prevailed and the miners lost their jobs. Click on PICTURES, below, to see striking miners and their wives, some with babies on their backs, at a strike rally.