FORMER miners in the pit village of Harworth are used to setbacks and knocks, but little could have prepared them for the knowledge that their union leaders have been living a life of luxury.
They were battered by the Thatcher Government during the miners’ strike in 1984, and they have continued to fight a running battle with management to keep the pits open; but always they had faith that their union would protect them.
They awoke yesterday, in small, featureless homes built around the colliery, to discover that, while they have struggled to meet ends meet with pension payouts and compensation awards, some key officials and employees of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) have been enjoying the high life. The discovery that the UDM and Vendside, a firm that processes claims and is owned by the union, has been making millions of pounds out of compensation claims by sick miners has left the villagers of Harworth bewildered.
Loyalty to the union remains strong in the north Nottinghamshire mining village, but has been eroded in recent months as more and more retired pit workers found themselves paying fees to UDM or Vendside. As retired miners sunk a few pints and watched horse racing on television at the Harworth Miners’ Welfare Institute yesterday, they began to voice their doubts about the actions of the UDM.
Some were reluctant to speak out against the union. Others were clearly angry at being charged notional union subscriptions to get their compensation awards which average only a few thousand pounds, mostly for either chronic obstructive pulmonary, a disease that slowly erodes the function of the lungs, or vibration white finger, which causes injury to hands and can necessitate amputation.
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Union fees usually amount to about £350 for each case and for a former miner and his family the sum can mean a last holiday before sickness makes them too ill to travel, or the difference between having a new fridge and none.
Few in the village, where 500 of the 6,000 population work at the colliery, are ready to accuse the union of betraying them, but there is clearly disquiet.
Granville Atkins, 69, who is married with three daughters and seven grandchildren, said: “I agreed to the fee on the basis that it was going towards helping other miners who had got nothing. At the time I was happy to pay it.”
He worked 35 years down the pit and retired in 1987. He was awarded about £8,000 compensation for vibration white finger and a further £6,000 for chest problems.
Vendside took £350 of his vibration white finger payout and, although he had agreed to it, Mr Atkins was dismayed. “It is unacceptable if the UDM have been doing it for their own benefit,” he said. “It appears the fees have not been going to the right people. There are a lot of needy folk around here.
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“It is more the way the UDM have done it that is wrong. It has been underhand. It was supposed to help the poor and less well-off miners.”
Kevin Tucker, 50, sat chatting with a few old friends at the welfare institute, the social centre in Harworth for mining families. He said: “They wanted £350 off me before they would even pay out my claim. I was told I wouldn’t get my money unless I sent them a cheque.”
He had two claims for vibration white finger and deafness and had to pay two sets of fees, totalling £700, because of his agreement with Vendside.
He said: “It is a lot of money to come out of your compensation. I have recently had a letter from the company saying it was for administration fees.
“All the other miners were doing the same as me. We thought it was normal. I want my money back. It seems as if the company thought nobody would notice. All the retired miners are angry about it.
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“I feel particularly sorry for the old boys in the village, some of whom only got £2,000 compensation. Fees of £350 are a large chunk out of that. It is terrible and nothing but a great scam.”
Ernest Allwood, 78, who spent 28 years working in the mines before his retirement, said: “I think the fee taken by Vendside for processing the claims is all wrong. Why should they claim twice for doing one job? “It is the UDM who is at fault. I made a claim for chro-nic bronchitis and asthma and had to pay out about £330.
“Everyone in the same boat as me is upset about it. We want to know where has all of our money gone? It seems as if somebody, somewhere, is lining their pockets.”