Many thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.<\/p>\n
Says Mike:<\/p>\n
The N.G.A. Chapel Rules book contained the \u2018rules\u2019 by which men who worked in print shops had to abide.<\/span><\/p>\n East Yorkshire Printers Ltd. at Driffield, to whom I returned after three years serving the country in the R.A.F., observed the requirements of the rule, but usually the men operating the printing machines, the Linotypes, or who worked on the stone, used their common sense and made the rules work in their favour whenever it was possible.<\/span><\/p>\n There were disputes in the trade, but more often than not they didn\u2019t follow any upheavals in small country weekly newspaper offices. Fleet Street was the place for such activities and we often suffered from their actions.<\/span><\/p>\n I was in Germany with the R.A.F. in 1959 when there was a national strike in the industry, so I have no recollections about that at all.<\/span><\/p>\n The Chapel was made up of all full members and apprentices in their last two years of apprenticeship, and they had to pay a weekly subscription. At that time, unions were very strong and membership and payment was obligatory. The Chapel held meetings every six months. No-one really liked these meetings, only the men who were very union minded. They seemed content to pander to dissent while the rest of us just wanted to get on with the job and take our pay home to our wives and families.<\/span><\/p>\n The Father of the Chapel was the only person who was allowed to discuss matters with the management, provided he was accompanied by two members of the committee.<\/span><\/p>\nFather of the Chapel<\/h3>\n