Welsh Journals

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THE MIND OF THE MINER. III. THE S.W.M.F. THE ROLE OF THE WESTERN MAIL." THE NEXT STEP. THE Federation plays an important part in the life of the South Wales Miner, and its activities constitute a most fruitful subject for dis- cussion wherever its adherents foregather. To understand the reasons for the industrial unrest that is characteristic of this coalfield it is essential that we should know something of the constitution of the Federation, and how this constitution favours extreme agitations. The Federation is democratic in structure and the rank and file control, or at any rate have the power of control if they choose to exercise it. In South Wales the lodge or branch, comprising practically all the men employed at any one colliery, is the primary unit of organisation. Groups of contiguous lodges form districts, which are in reality independent unions, each having its own officials and funds, and managing its own local business independently of the other districts. The districts are again grouped together to form the South Wales Miners' Federation. This scheme of organisation is rather different from that which exists in the other British coalfields, and enables more power to be retained in the hands of the local bodies. In Yorkshire, for example, there is no intermediate district between the Yorkshire Miners' Association and the individual lodges, and most of the control is centralised. In Durham the various classes of colliery workers are organised by crafts, and there are no united colliery lodges. All the craft unions, however, are linked up to the Durham Coal Trade Federation. In Scotland a centralised union exists. The Lancashire scheme resembles that of South Wales very closely, but the funds and functions are centralised to a large extent. The greater degree of local control possessed by lodges and districts in South Wales is possibly an important reason for the greater readi- ness of Welsh miners to throw over their officials and to take drastic action against their employers in case of dispute. The South Wales type of organi- sation tends to greater cohesion not only amongst the men employed at any particular colliery but also amongst the lodges comprised in the various districts. The frequent lodge meetings form the medium for discussing colliery grievances as well as of considering Federation matters. The monthly district meetings enables the lodges to compare views and to formulate policies based upon their collective experience. Lodge majorities dictate the mandates of the delegates to the district meetings. District meeting majorities determine the attitude to be adopted by their representatives on the South Wales Miners' Federation Executive. The coalfield conferences of the South Wales Miners' Federation. however, consists of delegates elected directly by the lodges, and conference decisions override Executive decisions. and determine the policy of the Federation, except on questions which are referred to a ballot of the whole coalfield. From this brief explanation it will be seen that the lodge is the most important unit in the organi- sation, and as the ballot method is cumbersome and cannot be applied except when a few important issues are involved, it is the decision of the lodge meeting which most frequently determines the policy and actions of the Federation. Now every working miner in a colliery has the right to vote. and if he exercised his right the Federation policy would accurately represent the views of the Trade Union majority. The weakness of the system consists in the fact that only a very small proportion of the members of a lodge are sufficiently interested in lodge business to attend lodge meetings. In some cases the men live far away from the places where the meetings are held. More usually their absence is due to indifference. They freely discuss colliery griev- ances and Federation policy when travelling to and from work and during hours of leisure. They are content, however, to leave the transaction of such business at lodge meetings to a small and active minority, usually consisting of the most advanced men in the colliery, and it is the views of these men that the lodge resolutions record. As a rule the decisions of the lodge meeting in regard to purely local industrial matters represent fairly accurately the opinion of the more intelligent section of the men employed in the mines. When, however, as during the recent discussions on the no holi- days issue, political bias is introduced, the decisions represent very much less truly the real views of the lodges as a whole How the system works may be more clearly understood from the following actual example. A meeting was recently convened of the lodge of a particular colliery, consisting of 800 members, for the purpose of considering the reversion of the decision against the postponement of holidays. Only ten members attended, and of these no fewer than seven wore I.L.P. badges. Needless to say,