Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 23 November 1912
Miners – Do what they Liked
A Denaby miner, Robert Bennett, was summoned at the instance of the Denaby and Cadeby Collieries Ltd, under the Employers and Workmen’s Act.
Mr Frank Allen, who prosecuted, explained that it was one of four similar cases for breach of contract. In view of their recent trouble in the minimum wage difficulties, there were a certain number of men who had got the idea that they could do what they liked. Some did not like too much work if they had the slightest pretext of getting out of the pit and having a “lake day”.
The rules was that when a man and a day after he was penalised for not being allowed to work the next day. But if these men could get down the pit and then on some pretext get out again they could get a “lake there,” and go to work the next day. Perhaps something had happened to their stall. Perhaps there had been a fall. These were the general excuses, and in these cases they had been told to go to another store and work. But if they did not work but simply idle their time, they had a sort of holiday and got the minimum wage as well. Whether that man worked or not the standing charges at the colliery were going on and the colliery company were only asking what was right in demanding a fair day’s work.
In Bennett’s case in the ordinary way he should have worked in 57 stall, at the Denaby pit, but on the day in question a fall of dirt occurred, and a deputy named Cooke told him to go into 62 where there was plenty of call. He refused to do this and asked to go out of the pit. The deputy would not give him the necessary permission, whereupon Bennett commenced to use bad language. He went to the pit bottom and eventually sent a message to the manager to say he was ill. He was taken to the surface, when he saw Mr Watson Smith, who told him he did not believe he was ill. Later Bennett went to Mr Smith and admitted that he was not ill, and that he had lied for the purpose of getting out of the pit.
In the ordinary way, the defendant would have got 10 tons of coal, a modest estimate, and the company were claiming in respect of that amount 17/6. The minimum wage of 6/9 and if the defendant had worked he would have perhaps have earned 7/6.
William Henry Cooke, deputy and Mr Harry Watson Smith, the manager, gave evidence, and an order for the amount claimed and the costs was made. The defendant did not appear.