Mexborough & Swinton Times – Friday 25 September 1931

Workmate Robbed.

Goldthorpe Miners Fined.

Two Goldthorpe miners, Henry Meakin and James H. James, were fined £2 each at Doncaster on Saturday for having stolen ss. 6d. and 4s. 3d. respectively from a workmate, Percy Smith.

Mr. W. L. Crawford, who prosecuted, said the case arose from the men’s wages at Goldthorpe Colliery. There was a common custom in the district whereby the wages were paid on one note, which consisted of the gross wages, less the stoppages for the workers in that particular stall. The two defendants and complainant had worked together for over two years and carried out the custom during that period. It had been their practice to pay 10s. for each trammer, and the balance was divided equally between the three colliers. In their stall for the week ending August 14th the wages were £16 1s. 8d., after stoppages had been made, for distribution between the three men and eleven trammers.

Smith should therefore hays received £3 10s. 6d.. but was paid only £3 5s. For the following week the net wages were £12 2s. 10d., and there were eight trammers, so that complainant should have received £2 14, 3d., instead of £2 10s. as paid to him. The only suggestion why the money was kept back was that Smith was not as good a workman as the defendants, who afterwards offered to repay 7s. 6d. The defendants had been dismissed from the colliery, the management of which regarded that type of offence as very contemptible.

Henry Hirst, manager of the colliery, said no complaint had been made to him previously that Smith was an inefficient workman.

Percy Smith said he and the defendants had agreed to pool all stoppages —they had an agreement “All or nowt.” One week he got someone to reckon up his money and he found he was short, so he complained to the management.

Mr. A. H. Jackson (for the defence) submitted that the defendants had a claim of right. They had not agreed to divide nett earnings by three, but by the number of shifts. There was always a floating balance, which was kept by the man paying out. They said that, taking year in and year out, all the three men were pretty well the same, because each man paid out in his turn. The trouble had arisen by the loose methods of payment that the men bad adopted among themselves.

Meakin said there had always been a custom to stand the trammers a drink out of the floating balance.

James said he was branch chairman of the Yorkshire Miners’ Association