NEW LIBERTY WON

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21222, 19 September 1940, Page 2

NEW LIBERTY WON

VILLAGE FIGHTS ALONE RIGHT TO CHOOSE EMPLOYER “MEN NOT AS CHATTELS” (Times Air Mail Service) LONDON, August 3 | Led by two stubborn miners, Tom Nokes ahd Walter Starkey, the men and women of Thurnscoe, Yorkshire, have won a tnree-year fight that affects every man and woman worker in Britain, says the Daily Express. They fought alone. They staked their homes, their savings, all they possessed. Today Walter Starkey, short of stature, strong of heart, returned from London, where in the House of Lords itself he received confirmation of the right of every Briton in normal times: to choose his own employer. Three years ago there were 1860 miners working at Hickleton main colliery. In June 1937 the colliery amalgamated with Doncaster Collieries, Ltd. Union Did Not Help Various changes were made, and in October the men declared a lightning strike. Their trade union, the Yorkshire Mineworkers’ Association, would not help them, declaring the strike “unofficial.” The men themselves, all 1860 of them, were prosecuted at Doncaster Police Court for breach of contract, fined an dordered to pay more than £2OOO damages. In vain the men argued that their contract was with the old company, not the new. "You cannot take over men as if they were chattels and machinery,” they argued. The magistrates dismissed their argument. Waiter Starkey, secretary of the union branch, called a meeting. “We ought to appeal,” he said. “If the union itself won’t help, we will find the money to pay for the appeal ourselves.” The miners agreed. One of them, Tom Nokes, volunteered to be the test case. “If we lose, your home may be sold up to pay the costs,” he was warned. Tom said he was ready to face it. So Walter Starkey got on a bus to Rotherham, visited a solicitor, and spent hours with him going through old law books, building up a case. In time their appeal was heard by three High Court judges. Claims Dismissed They dismissed the miners’ claim. Walter Starkey called another meeting. “We are not beaten yet,” he said. "Let us appeal.” Aye, said the miners. So they raised more money, went to the Appeal Court, and again they lost. They called another meeting. Already the costs of their appeals had run into four figures. It would take them years to pay off the debt. Undaunted, these miners, with their wives to back them, determined to go to the House of Lords. They needed still more money. They staked all their funds, their buildings, their fine canteen, their homes. Tom Nokes and Walter Starkev signed papers agreeing to give up all their personal possessions, garnered over a lifetime, if they lost. Yesterday five Law Lords listened to the appeal of the miners who | claimed on behalf of all workers that ! a man cannot be passed from one employer to another without his consent. The Law Lords decided, by four votes to one, that the miners were right. They upset the decisions of all the lower courts, ordered the colliery company to pay all costs, and dismissed the claim for damages.