Description:Colliery owners did not take kindly to miners' early attempts to form trades unions.
Market forces
Most believed in an 'iron law of wages,' which dictated that wages would be related to market forces.
This meant that if prices had to be low in order to sell coal, then wages would have to remain low as well.
Interference
Colliery owners believed that trade union campaigns interfered with market forces - not to mention their profits - and so were invariably hostile.
This notice, issued by Mr. Kinnersly of Clough Hall Colliery, Kidsgrove, informs workers that they must sign a declaration to confirm thay they have left the union if they wish to keep their jobs.
This notice, printed by W.H. Hyde of Newcastle, is now among the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.