Harry Sloan

Scan page 8

In the North East and in South Wales collieries have been hard hit by the huge cutback in steel production from 20m tonnes in 1978 to 8m in 1983. exploitation throughout the public sector demands an end to operating grants to the coal industry - which can only be achieved by massive increases in productivy, pit closures, and curtailing investment.

Secondly, the recession precipitated by Tory policies in the context of the world wide economic crisis has brought a heavy slump in production in manutacturing industry. Coal, as a basic raw material for other industries, has suffered a corresponding slump in Unsold stocks have risen - and the cost of maintaining such stocks has also risen: under such conditions, the eyes of government and management turn to ways and means of cutting back on the least profitable production.

Smarting

thirdly. the Tory government has not forgotten the smarting defeats inflicted by the miners on the Heath government in the national strikes of With those struggles the miners re-emerged from many years of relative quiescence as the recognised vanguard of the working class.

Though there has been no repetition of these stormy events since 1974, the residual militancy among the miners was abown by the February 1981 strike wave against closures, by Scargill's landslide election victory in the ballot for President and by the powerful support from the NUM for last Jear's NHS pay battle.

To inflict a defeat on the NUM would be a major boost for the Thatcher government - particularly if it could be followed through with long-term plans to further cut back the numbers of miners and reduce Britain's dependence upon coal.

Indeed, as Scargill has pointed out, this aim of circumventing the NUM is a prime factor in the determined Tory moves towards nuclear power.

In this context the issue of pit closures and job losses has been gathering pace within the NUM over the last two years. In late 1980 and early 1981 the Coal Board vigorously denied that they had any 'hit list' for pit closures.

Yet in february: 1981 they announced the closure of 23 pits - which had been on a hit list. Faced by determined resistance they withdrew proposals for closure and instead reverted to consultative procedures.

In fact over 22,000 jobs have been axed by the NCB over the last 18 months without a fight by the NUM, while the Tory/NCB plans for speed-up and closures have become ever more ambitious.

Last autumn Arthur Scargill attempted to link the campaign for a strike vote over the 8% wage offer with a campaign for action against further pit closures.

In the event, miners' reluctance to embark on a long and bitter strike on the wage offer, in the hopes of a marginal improvement, resulted in a vote against action. Even right wingers were quick to point out that this did not signify a vote to accept closures.

With NCB management increasingly arrogant about their intentions, and the press revealing information plainly held back during the ballot, Scargill immediately resumed the struggle to alert the NUM to the danger on jobs.

He revealed NCB documents in which projected closures of loss-making pits are discussed.

The documents were admitted to be genuine NCB Chairman Nom Siddall. They talk in te of 75 pits classified "short" life" mear (according to Siddall Life of less than ten ye And they include a lis 30 top "loss-maki pits - among them designated as "long li pits.

According to the N these "top" lor botto 30 pits accounted for f million out of a total £253 million losses by NCB's 200 pits.

In a submission to Monopolies and Merg Commission, the NCB 1 spelled out its cen targets in cutting costs which speed-up of prod tion is linked to the clos of 'uneconomic" coll ies:

'111. Wages and v charges, although they 1 form a reducing propor of the Board's coll operating costs as car intensiveness increaser the industry, still acco for nearly. 47% of co Areas are therefore al ged with seeking South Wales miners listen to NUM leaa campaigning for a vote in last year's ballot for strike action on wages anı closures kers = by man as aing ars. it of ng"

ife"

CB, :228 of the the zers also tral in luclure ierrage DOw tion iery pital 3 in sunt ists. harout capital investment schemes which will enable reductions to be made in manpower. A simple formula has been devised which assists management to take a broad view on the breakeven points for capital expenditure which results in the saving of a man; the amounts to be used in the assessment vary depending on whether the man works at the face,, elsewhere underground or on the surface.

14. Examples of typica manpower savings schemer in some cases combining with other improvement schemes], which have been introduced over the years are:

a] mechanisation at the face and in drivages to eliminate hand filling;

b] double/treble shifting at high productivity faces to reduce the number of faces;

c] elimination of men at transfer points;

d remote control of pumping and ventilation;

e] elimination or reduction of hand picking in coal preparation;

fl. more automation in washeries;

g] centralisation of coal preparation facilities and closing old washeries;

elimination of coal fired boilers by introducing electrification of winders;

i) schemes for rapid loading of wagons;

jl combining/ merging collieries, concentrating output, men and materials at fewer shafts and eliminating certain surface works.

113. One of the most significant contributions to improving the efficiency of utilisation of production resources, including manpower, is the closure high cost, uneconomic collieries. The arrangements and special problems associated with colliery closures are dealt with in a separate paper. Closures provide not only the obvious savings of reducing dant but they also enable highly trained men to be transferred to other profitable, continuing pits with savings in training costs."

Laments

Later in the same document the NCB laments the fact that:

''the Board [was] unable to close the full numbers of high cost pits that had been included in their original plans for 1981/2."

Under the heading "Reduction of capacity", an annex to this same document argues:

"A major contribution to cost savings is the elimination of highly uneconomic capacity. In times when coal is being put to stock, the benefit to cash flow is at its greatest."

Premature

The text then examines the costs and the benefits of "premature closure (i.e. earlier than natural exhaustion)". • And it includes a table which it admits "deals with a very sensitive area and is not for publication."

The table illustrates the financial effect of "closing certain uneconomic collieries" over the period price exports." (NUM submission Committee).

... Kent mi indeed • talking about certain, known pits, on an existing list.

From this information Scargill correctly pointed out that NCB planning is looking towards the elimination in at least the next ten years of 95 pits, including the 75 "short life" and 20 of the 30 most "uneconomic" pits. The cost in mining jobs, he estimated, could be between 70,000 Uneconomic He challenged Siddall to give an assurance that no further pits would be closed other than on grounds of natural exhaustion.

But while Siddall vigorously land predictably!) denied that any 'hit list' existed, the NCB insisted that:

"the Board cannot make a clear cut distinction between 'exhaustion' and 'economic' closures."

Remodel

Siddall himself WAS already on record •88 declaring that:

"I'm not here to cut induatry back. Rut I do for he to Commons Energy