Alex McQuire
1999/182 Alex McQuire interviewed at his home by Dr Heather Holmes on 11/11/1999
000 Character of Father of Chapel and relations with management; assistance from branch; informing the branch
627 Litho department chapel; strength; comparison of other departments
039 Need for union membership
047 Chapel meetings; time of meeting and location; levels of attendance; best times for meetings
071 Election of chapel members; difficulty of filling posts
087 System of elections; new people with ideas and opinions
106 Character of chapel meetings; relations with management
112 Apprentice ratio; apprentices at a range of stages in apprenticeship
123 Training of apprentices; day release; work; working on machines
140 Apprenticeships not formalised; movement around journeymen; training book; keeness of apprentices to get onto the press
173 Apprentice culture
180 Relations between journeymen and apprentices
184 Initiation ceremony at start of apprenticeship; initiations on marriage
190 No initiation on completion of apprenticeship
194 Some apprentices started together
198 Bonus apprentice
201 Length of apprenticeship; changing length; work; extra money to apprentices who did well
218 Breaks; times; coffee machines
229 Health and safety; general practice
236 Accidents; nature
248 Protective clothing; supply of overalls
254 Clubs and societies; golf club; member of bowling club; badminton club; no sports specific to women; ballroom dancing
266 Welfare; Miss Park visiting people in hospital with cigarettes and flowers; chaplain figure; assisted with domestic or financial problems
292 Mortgages
295 Savings clubs
300 Christmas clubs
302 Pools syndicates
306 Size of litho department; largest chapel in town
317 Contact between different chapels; federate chapel meetings; building extension to bindery on announcement to closure
330 Reactions to closure; Thomson takeover and reasons
343 Collection for Thomson on elevation to peerage
351 Visit of Roy Thomson; cleaning up premises; Thomson not interested in firm; sold firm and park
360 Comparison of Nelsons and other firms in Edinburgh for quality of work; good reputation
370 No competition between firms; congratulatory letters from customers
380 Old fashioned building; different levels of building; installation of lifts and ramps
391 Not allowed into new bindery for books going missing
393 Security; work of security guards
398 Lateness to work; timekeeping
411 Breaks; foremen chased men back to work
417 Rules on when to turn off machines; times for starting and finishing; preparation and care
425 Characters and nicknaming; assistants frequently had a nickname
441 Characters; joking between men; joking; supportive workers; friendliness
459 Closure of Nelsons; work in Morrison and Gibb; attitude of Morrison and Gibb men to Nelson men; changing relations between the two
473 Contact with ex-Nelson people
486 Most printers had City and Guilds
489 Work career in different firms
496 Some printers ambitious
507 Role of management and FOC for membership
513 Character of women layers on
523 Amount of work throughput; work problems noted on dockets
531 ‘The Ferret’ calculated costs; costed and estimated
546 Little contact with other departments
548 Place of plate storage
550 Size of workforce at platemaking
553 Storing plates; method to prepare storage
556 Stopped storing plates; storeman employed
560 Litho stones not used; used in Hartley Brothers; comparison of litho technology
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