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MINING-HISTORY  March 2017

MINING-HISTORY March 2017

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Subject:

Re: Miners' Lodge officials

From:

Lewis Mates <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Lewis Mates <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 08:52:53 +0000

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Hi Mike,
DelegateTo DMA council as you say but also to represent the lodge at other meetings of other lodges that could be organised separately (and often in defiance of) central DMA.
CrakemanWent around the pit village/ pit etc with a crake (football rattle) announcing the beginning of meetings or when a strike was about to start etc.,
Pit Inspector(This info is from Dave Douglass...)The ('123') inspector is the ELECTED workmen's inspector, picked in a direct ballot of the workforce. It was usual for the inspector to accompany the HMI inspections, and also the management's own Safety Committee although he wasn't necessarily on the safety committee which was a joint body with men elected onto it. The pit inspector was independent, he could go anywhere when requested by men, and to the scene of reportable or near reportable accidents or incidents. He could do his own independent inspections unfettered by management, but of courtesy was expected to inform the management when and where he was going. He was entitled to carry and be trained on, or with, anything necessary to do his job, relighting oil lamps, methanometeres, hydrometers, etc., When he filled in his report it went directly to HMI although a copy had to be sent to the management for comment. He was paid by the branch for the inspections. There were normally two of them and were on call 24 hours a day for emergencies.
CheckweighmenElected by the men and paid for by the lodge.No there were usually more than one as their work was demanding (as you point out) even more so when most Durham pits went 'three shift' after 1910. One of the few bonuses of this development was the need for more checkweighmen in collieries that were now drawing coal for maybe 15 hours or more a day.Some were also lodge officials but not that many I think (proportionately speaking). More were also councillors and of course very influential.
There were also management appointed weighmen, who, as you say, were checked by the union man. I think these were simply called weighmen (or master weighmen if the one in charge). They were also called 'keekers' I believe. 
Average TakerI'm not sure, but guessing that they had something to do with the wages paid on different faces, ensuring that those working different faces were earning the County Average and going to management with grievances if they were not.
There is some material on this (wages, lodge workings) and tons on lodge politics in my book The Great Labour Unrest: Rank-and-file movements and political change in the Durham coalfield (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2016)
http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719090684/
Daftly priced in hardback, it should be out in a more sensibly priced paperback by the end of the year....
cheers, lewis
PS What lodge was your local one then....?

      From: Mike Syer <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask] 
 Sent: Wednesday, 29 March 2017, 23:08
 Subject: Miners' Lodge officials
   
Local newspaper reports of the results of half-yearly meetings of our local Miners' Lodge, in Durham, in about 1920, typically reported elections to the following offices:
President
Secretary
Treasurer
Delegate [to Durham Miners Association Council, presumably]
Compensation Secretary
Average Taker*
Pit Inspectors*
Crakeman* (or Doorkeeper & Crakeman)
Auditors
Assistant Weighman
Minimum Wage Board representatives
Committee

Most of these functions are fairly obvious.  But please can some one advise on what the more obscurely named officials - such as those asterisked - did?

Also, would there only have been one Checkweighman?  (How could one man possibly check all tubs?!  … especially if he was also Lodge Secretary and a local Councillor…)

And would there have been a colliery-appointed Weighman, whose measurements / calculations were checked by the union's man?  (If so, what might have been his official job title?)

Thanks for any help

Mike
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