 He was imprisoned at Mount Eden Prison for four months during the 1912 Waihi miners' strike for the part he played.His leadership and imprisonment during the strike would bestow him with great mana in the labour movement in New Zealand for the remainder of his life.However, he found himself blacklisted in Waihi and then moved to Palmerston North taking up a position as an organiser for the Manawatu Flaxmills Employees' Union.