§ MR. D. CRAWFORD (Lanark, N.E.)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether his attention has been called to a statement that at a colliery at Kirkintilloch the owners have posted up a notice to the following effect:—
If any foreign material be found in a hutch, he shall be fined 5s. for the first offence, 10s. for the second, 15s. and instant dismissal for the third;whether he is aware that this notice is not the result of an agreement with the men, in terms of the 12th section of "The Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887," but is objected to and resisted by them; whether, if these facts be correct, this action of the owners is in accordance with the provisions of the Act; and, whether the Government propose to take any action in the matter?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)The owners of this colliery have posted up a notice substantially corresponding with the terms stated in the Question. The men have not agreed to the terms of the notice. They have been on strike, and no work has been done, or deductions made, under the notice. The notice is inoperative for the purpose of settling deductions under the 12th section of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, unless its terms are expressly or impliedly agreed to by the men or adopted on arbitration. No action by the Government is called for under this state of things.