Editorial: A black future for the miners

When the mines were nationalised there were widespread rejoicings among the miners. They had been told for 40 years that nationalisation would bring great benefits and in particular that it would end the wage-slave position of the workers. At the T.U.C. in 1946 Mr. Shinwell, who was at that time Minister of Fuel and Power, confessed that it was he who “had the privilege of preparing the Nationalisation of the Coal Industry Bill.” He claimed that the miners “through their elected representatives and, indeed, many of them in a direct fashion, will play a much larger part in the administration of the industry than ever they have done before. We are thus offered an opportunity of raising the status of those employed in the nationalised industries and setting an example which must have a profound bearing on the position of the workers in general.” (T.U.C. Report, 1946, Page 366.)

Of course nothing of the kind has happened and the miners are now sadly disappointed. This year the T.U.C. asked the unions for their views on the working of the boards of nationalised industries. Here are two comments from the National Union of Mineworkers: —

“Complaints from various areas include the fact that no functional change has taken place between management and workers from sitting together on consultative committees; advice by the workers’ side is insufficiently regarded; the work of committees is impeded by lack of vital information” (Manchester Guardian, August 22nd, 1949.)

“After more than two years of nationalisation, while relationships have to some extent improved, there still remains a good deal of dissatisfaction. The goodwill that has been built up so laboriously since vesting day is being replaced by cynicism.” (Daily Telegraph, August, 22nd, 1949.)

Mr. Arthur Horner, Communist General Secretary of the Miners’ Union, in a speech at the T.U.C. went further still towards a recognition of the fact that nationalisation leaves the workers’ position unchanged. The Daily Worker reported him as follows: —

“Nationalisation still presents us with the factor that the Boards of nationalised industries in relation to the workers are the buyers of what we sell.
“The nationalised Boards, in negotiating wages and conditions, are in fact buying labour as a commodity and we, as trade unions, are seeking to sell it under the best possible conditions.
“So although the basic relationship as between the workers and the nationalised Boards may have been modified, the fundamental difference between buyer and seller still remains after an industry has been nationalised.
“The Coal Boards must function as employers.
“We have had experience of three distinguished persons connected with this Congress— Lord Citrine, Mr. Ebby Edwards, and Sir Joseph Hallsworth.
“We have no complaint against the manner in which they have endeavoured to interpret their trade union principles, as functioning members of the National Coal Board.
“But, in spite of their desire to be of service to the miners, they, in the last analysis, are the employers, and, in relation to us, have an entirely different function from what we are called upon to perform.
“Nationalised industry in a country such as ours is not a free agent.
“You cannot place the nationalised industries in isolation. They are surrounded by a world of privately-owned industries.
“We find to a large extent that the nationalised industry is conditioned and circumscribed by limitations set upon it by reason of what takes place in the 80 per cent. of privately-owned industries.” (Daily Worker, September 8th, 1949.)

When the mines were nationalised there was much talk by Ministers and miners’ leaders of plans to expand the industry, get more men into the pits, instal more efficient machinery and boost up output. At that time, with many continental mines out of action, the planners were able to forget that sooner or later the problem to be faced would not be that of producing more millions of tons of coal for export, but of finding buyers for it. Now the world situation has changed and the prospect no longer looks the same. Speaking at the British Association on September 5th, Dr. A. Beacham, Professor of Industrial Relations at University College, Cardiff, outlined the future as it looks to him. He pointed out that it was planned to increase output to 230 million tons in 1951 and to an even higher figure in later years. With each miner giving a larger output he estimates that this could be done with only a trifling increase of the number of men employed. But what happens then?—

“All the emphasis now was on increased output, but when the output became available adjustment might be severe. If the Board’s reorganisation scheme successfully raised production per man then labour would be redundant. . . . The Board must trim its sails before the storm, he advised, and press the Government for lower targets, quicken the elimination of uneconomic mines, and steadily reduce the labour force. (Manchester Guardian, September 6th, 1949.)

And to give point to the problem, the Miners’ Union got the delegates to pass a resolution demanding the calling of a conference of all the coal-producing countries to draw up an international coal plan. The Industrial Correspondent of the News Chronicle (September 7th, 1949) reported this as follows: —

“This means, in effect, an international governmental coal cartel, with power to regulate production, exports, prices and selling conditions all over the world. Moving the resolution, Mr. Ernest Jones, secretary of the Yorkshire miners, said Poland was seeking to re-establish itself in export markets and create a monopoly in Scandinavian countries. This, he said, would have a serious effect on the Durham, Northumberland and South Wales coalfields.”

Thus does Capitalism make nonsense of planning, for after the British, Polish and other planners have planned to increase coal production, the only way the British miners can see of avoiding the consequences of “over-production” is to establish an international body to regulate (that is, to restrict) production and exports once more.