Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer – Monday 24 October 1949
Miners to fight £4,000,000 concentration plan
N.U.M. leader condemns “grandiose scheme”
Miners employed at Wath Main Colliery, South Yorkshire, yesterday at a mass meeting at Wath-on Dearne, protested strongly against the North-Eastern Divisional Coal Board’s £4.000.000 plan to concentrate four pits in the Mexborough area.
They authorised their leaders to press the objection “to the final issue.” Mr. J. A. Hall, the Yorkshire Miners’ President, has criticised the North- Eastern Coal Board for not consulting the National Union of Mineworkers before announcing their scheme.
The pits affected are Main. Manvers Main, Barnborough Main and Kilnhurst. At the Wath meeting three of the men’s leaders. Councillor A. Beattie (President), Mr. J Kelly (secretary) and Mr. W. Rawlinson, reported on the concentration plan as it affects Wath Main.
At the close of a 90-miuute meeting Councillor Beattie said the men’s decision and been unanimous.
Mr Rawlinson said the men had listened with alarm to the reorganisation scheme.
Under the plan, Wath Main, it is estimated will suffer a reduction in manpower of Fullerton for three men, although spread over the four pits the total loss of employment will be 80 men only. Manvers will 184 men, but Barnburgh will gain 278 and Kilnhurst 269.
“I will have plenty to say “
Mr J.A. Hall told “The Yorkshire Post”: “I did not know anything at all about the plan in July reach my office on Saturday morning, but I will certainly have plenty to say about it before the scheme reaches maturity.”
“Alarm created”
“When there are supposed to be consultative committees on which both sides of the industry are represented, it is amazing that I should hear of this scheme without any information officially having been given to me. The proposals have created some alarm in the Yorkshire coalfield.
“There is no opposition to long term planning for reconstruction in the pits. I want to make that quite clear. But I would have thought that with the present economic crisis the Coal Board would have been more concerned with need tor immediate schemes to increase output now. This can be achieved both cheaply and in great volume without interfering with such a grandiose scheme as that proposed.
“I do not think the district should have this alarming and staggering information given to it without first considering the best way for increasing coal output now.”