After a quick business meeting, following a 'meet and greet' coffee, the chairman of the Tenby and Saundersfoot branch of the Labour Party, Tony Wales, gave a summary, in his report, of the seriously disappointing results of the local county council elections, in Pembrokeshire. In County Hall, Labour now has only five councillors and, as usual, the Independents are the biggest influence on policy and spending matters. Tony gave a clear picture of what this could mean for future Assembly and Westminster elections and reiterated the message that we must concentrate on Labour's huge achievements in terms of social justice, over the last 10 years, and in reminding voters of the facts. Despite the miserable election results, we in our branch, had new members at the meeting, and a good number of new supporters who had come to hear the charismatic Tyrone O'Sullivan speak about the life and times of Tower Colliery, in the Cynon Valley. In a fascinating and often amusing talk, Tyrone told us the history of the Tower Colliery, dating right back to 1808 when William Crawshay established control of what was then called Goitre coal mine. Crawshay, typical of his type, was a powerful, wealthy landowner, who dictated the standard of living of his employees and their families and saw them living in very grim hardship. Eventually, the cry of 'Reform' was resounding through the Merthyr and Aberdare valleys and following a protest, which was quelled by troops from Brecon and the martyrdom of Dic Penderyn, on August 13, 1831, the workers of Merthyr joined those of Hirwaun and Aberdare and marched over Hirwaun mountain, carrying a white flag dipped into the blood of a slain calf. This 'red flag' became a potent symbol of the working class movement. A replica of that flag was used in January 1995 when the miners triumphantly returned to work at Tower, after the workers' buy-out. Tower Colliery, so-named after 1864 when bought from the Crawshay family, ended up being the only deep mine owned by workers anywhere in the world. It was also the last deep mine in Wales. In 1992, there were 51 mines in Britain, but the then Tory Government decided only 19 would survive. They based their decision on two factors, the geological conditions, and the fact, they said, that there was no market for their coal. Tyrone knew this was simply not true. Seventy-one per cent of the men at Tower voted not to accept redundancy, but much ill-feeling was stirred up from those whose interests lay in closing the mine. The management tried to exact promises of reduced wages and raised out-put in order to keep the mine open, and at one point, the miners voted to 'cave in' and accept redundancy. But Tyrone, as lodge secretary, had orders from the NUM not to sign the document to close the mine and, after a meeting called in the local pub, with many determined supporters, the idea of buying out the mine was formed. Tyrone now faced a huge undertaking. Gathering a team of five men, he had to negotiate a deal with the DTI. His 'offer' accepted, he then had to call upon the miners themselves to raise a great deal of money and by the Monday following, they had raised £371,000. With their financial advisers, the team then had to persuade Barclays Bank to lend them £2 million. They agreed, as long as he could raise a matching figure. The cost of insuring the mine was £1.6 million p.a. and electricity cost £1.5 million p.a. A daunting task, but the 'Employees' Buy Out' (EBO) became Tower Employees Buy Out (TEBO) and the determination to continue only strengthened. Tyrone went out to find the markets that 'did not exist' according to the administration of the time, but he quickly found three contracts worth £67 million pounds over a five-year period, and in the first year of operation, the mine made £4 million profit, after paying back a £2 million debt and all other expenses. The workforce went from the 239 men who first re- entered the mine - which British Coal had kept good maintenance on, to 400, and many apprentices were trained during the 12 years or so of its 'second life'. Eventually, Tower ran out of coal, but there are some new mines, e.g. at Aberpergwm, and there is scope for expansion, Tyrone believes. In his introduction, he spoke movingly about his long family history in mining. In 1885, on Christmas Eve, his great-grandfather, together with two sons, aged 14 and 17, were killed in the mine; his own father was killed at Tower in 1963, when his mother was 45, so his empathy with those who have lost loved ones in this industry is spontaneous and natural. He talked about his sense of being a 'true socialist', and a believer in Jesus Christ, who, he believed, was also a socialist. He talked about his conversations with the mine manager who bemoaned the militarism of the workers and Tyrone asked him, "Do you want lions or lambs working down this pit?" Much of what Tyrone spoke about resounded in the sympathetic ears of his audience. He is undoubtedly sincere, driven and absolutely clear in his convictions that to fight for a cause, the cause of protecting jobs and working conditions, was a role that he took on willingly. His talk was one of the best that our branch has ever heard and was loudly applauded. He was thanked by the chairman, Tony Wales, simply and quickly. What more needed to be said? At the next meeting of the branch will be Adrian Bevan, chairman of a Civil Service Union, who will speak on the Trade Unions in a Modern Workplace. This is on Saturday, June 21, at St. Teilo's Hall, at 11 am. The Summer BBQ at Skrinkle is on June 29.
M.B.