ABSTRACT
It was suggested in Chapter XI that existing customs in North West Durham for the self-selection of work teams and their allocation to faces by cavilling were not consistent with the most effective working of more highly mechanized systems. This was recognized by both management and lodge when Haarman scraper-peelers were introduced. Both sides were anxious that the new units should succeed and a frank meeting produced a decision to replace the traditional marrowing up of teams by a new and more appropriate institution. For the first units the lodge agreed that, from among those volunteering, management would have the right to include certain men rated ‘excellent’ on mutually accepTable criteria and to exclude certain others rated ‘poor’. On its side, management agreed that the middle and largest group, rated ‘good’, should go into the cavil; from these the balance would be made up. In this way the quality of the teams pioneering the application of a technology new to the British industry was guaranteed.
