{{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal
A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each worker.
In many coal mines, workers have been paid by the weight of coal they mine. Historically, it was impractical to weigh the coal until it had been conveyed to the surface, and therefore the system required a high level of trust. Checkweighmen appointed by the colliery management were often accused of underestimating weights, or even working with scales which they knew to produce incorrect values.Eric Arensen, ''The Human Tradition in American Labor History'', pp.73-74Brian Kelly, ''Race, Class, and Power in the Alabama Coalfields, 1908-21'', pp.68-69
From the mid-19th century, there was a movement in many countries among miners and their trade unions to make the position of checkweighman an elected one. This right was won in the United Kingdom in 1860 although, until 1887, companies could discharge a checkweighman they disliked, reducing the independence of the role. In parts of the United States and also in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, struggles over the right to elect the post continued into the 20th century. While the post was most common by far in coal mines, it was sometimes found in other mines or quarries.
In larger mines, there might be multiple checkweighmen, who could additionally check each other's work, or assistant checkweighmen who might be elected or appointed.
Because a checkweighman had been elected and was trusted by the workers at the mine, the position was often held by people who became prominent
trade unionist
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
s or politicians. Additional duties were often combined with the post; for example, in the UK, checkweighmen were given the right to act as Inspectors of Mines, further increasing their power.
Later in the 20th century, many miners were paid a fixed wage rather than by weight of coal, and so in these cases the position of checkweighman became unnecessary and was abolished.Brian Elliot, ''Coal Miners'', p.76
Notable checkweighmen
Denaby Main
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Eddie Collins
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Glass Houghton Colliery
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Herbert Smith
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Mardy Colliery
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Thomas Isaac Mardy Jones
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The son of a Welsh miner Thomas Isaac, who later died in the mines, Jones rose up the ranks of the Labour Party to become Member of Parliament for ...
, 1907-1909
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Noah Ablett
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, 1910–1917
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Ted Williams
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Robert Smillie
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Jack Lawson
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