Coal uncertainty... and comfort of Thomas the Tank Engine
THE MINING industry in Yorkshire faced fresh uncertainty during this week of 2002, with the expected announcement by UK Coal of losses topping £40m in the Selby coalfield during the previous year.
Already 100 contract workers opening new faces in the four-pit complex were being axed as company bosses took action to reduce the losses. Further cost-cutting was expected.
Analysts were predicting losses of between £24-27m in the previous year for the company nationally but believed losses in Selby, which employed 2,200 people, could be more than £40m for 2001.
A government subsidy of £43.5m had already been paid to the pits, but concern was growing over their longterm future because no more public money could be given under existing European Union rules.
Selby MP John Grogan called on UK Coal to make a long-term commitment to the Selby pits to help secure extra cash from the Government.
Concerns were growing for the safety of dozens of people from Yorkshire feared to have been caught up in bloody clashes in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Batley and Spen MP Mike Wood said he was aware of 53 people from his constituency and from Bradford, Dewsbury and Blackburn, who couldn’t be contacted since violence erupted in Gujarat a few days previously, after Muslims set fire to a train carrying Hindu nationalists.
With February and March being popular months for Britons visiting the state, he feared more British visitors might be in the area and could have become embroiled in the troubles.
Fellow Labour MP Ann Taylor, whose Dewsbury constituency was also home to a large Gujarati Muslim community, said local people were “extremely worried” about relatives visiting or living in Gujarat.
Executives at postal group Consignia avoided derailing crucial pay talks involving 145,000 Royal Mail workers when they decided not to accept a recommended 10 per cent wage rise.
Chief executive John Roberts (salary £205,000) and managing director of Mail Services Jerry Cope (£140,000) were in line for increases of around £21,000 and £15,000 respectively – more than many postmen and women earned in a year.
The rises would have provoked fury and caused the collapse of pay talks between the organisation and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which remained finely balanced.
Mr Roberts said: “The debate about levels of pay within Consignia is legitimate, but our priority is the pay of postmen and women.”
Thomas the Tank Engine might do more than just entertain youngsters – it could well enhance the development of autistic children.
Experts believed the TV character’s “calm and clear” narration, which ‘signposts’ changes clearly, along with easy to follow storylines and bold colours mean autistic children associate with Thomas more than any other children’s character.
Thomas’s friendly face and exaggerated smile also helped autistic children’s understanding of emotion, as the expressions were set for some time and could be understood easily.
The report, by the National Autistic Society, concluded that Thomas acts as an “initial point of entry” into realms as vital as speech, emotion and imagination. It found 57 per cent of children on the autistic spectrum associated with Thomas more than any other children’s character.
The debate about levels of pay within Consignia is legitimate, but our priority is the pay of postmen and women.