Notices For 54

Redundancy at Denaby Main Colliery

An unwelcome notice in the pay packets of 54 Denaby Main Colliery workers last Friday was a 14 days’ notice to finish their employment at the Colliery–only a week before the annual holidays

Thirty-six surface workers of the Parkgate seam and 18 underground workers of the same seam are to become redundant because of the £4½ million centralisation scheme which is to link up Denaby and Cadeby collieries. Of the 36 surface workers 12 are over the retiring age (65) and the 18 underground workers are all over the retiring Age.

Ald G. M. Hanson, N.U.M. branch secretary at the Colliery told a “South Yorkshire Times” reporter yesterday that the redundancy had been caused because the Parkgate seam coal would be brought up at Cadeby after the holidays.

Aid. Hanson said talks between the management and the branch were to be held after the holidays to discuss the matter.

The second link-up with Cadeby colliery is expected to come in September when the Haigh Moor seam et Denaby will be linked up with that seam at Cadeby and coal from Denaby will be brought up at Cadeby. Ald. Hanson said this link up would certainly affect the surface workers, connected with this seam, of whom there are about 25, and might affect the underground workers, of whom there are 96 face men and 96 other workers. He said the screen workers and the pit brow men (who handle the tubs of coal on the surface) would most likely be affected. He could not estimate and did not know how many would be affected.

Ald. Hanson said the other seam in the pit, the Barnsley seam, was expected to be linked with Cadeby by the end of this year. It was unlikely that underground workers here would be affected and he did not yet know how it would affect the surface men, of whom there are about 50 connected with this seam. He said 13 of the Parkgate seam men had been saved from redundancy by being transferred to surface work at Cadeby.

The pit holidays begin to-night (Friday) so the 54 who have been given notice will actually finish today.