Meeting at the Eagle Inn, Lane End - from the Enoch Wood Scrapbook

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Date:17th of May 1831

Description:In 1831, a new Coal Miners' Union Society published a set of rules and orders.

Both the union and its rules caused an uncomfortable stir amongst local coal masters.

This notice was published by coal masters in response to the tensions.

Subversive

The masters believe that the miners' rules are "subversive to the just rights of their employers."

They reaffirm that they will not employ anyone connected with the union.

The truck system

The masters believe that there is only one justification for the miners' discontent - that, in a few collieries, wages are paid in goods instead of cash.

This method of payment was known as the 'truck system.'

In fact the level of wages, say the masters, guarantees that:

No collier ... has been without the means of earning a decent and comfotable subsistence for himself and his family.

As a result, the masters' only recommendation is to abolish the truck system, and certainly not to increase wages.

This document is now among the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.

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