MINERS' WAGES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 135, 8 June 1911, Page 5

MINERS' WAGES.

■ m MASS MEETING AT WAIHI ATTITUDE OF THE MINEOWNERS. "A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE.' DISPUTE REFERRED TO THE FEDERATION. (By Telegraph.—Own CorregcotidenLl WAIHI, this day. A mass meeting of miners was held last night in the Union Hall, under the I auspices of the Waihi Miners Workers' j Union, to receive and consider the delegates' report in connection with the recent conference between the mine repre- ! sentatives and representatives of the tin- ; ion. Admission was by ticket only. Tho jhall was packed to overflowing, there holing 70-3 miners present. The Press reprc[sentatives were excluded. The meeting | was an orderly one. j Mr. Parry (prcsidentl gave an account |of the recent conference. His remarks ; went to show that the conference was j futile, so far as the. union's case was conj cerned, the mine-owners' representative-! .maintaining a conspiracy of silence, rej fusing to debate the issues submitted, or discuss the question of a rise in wages. ( Other delegates also spoke, supporting | the president's remarks, and expressing \ disgust at the result of the conference.

Mr Parry said that the matter would ba iealt with by the Federation executive, rhe result of the companies not meeting them in some way might mean trouble that would affect the whole of the Federated Workers of New Zealand. The following resolutions were unanimously carried :— "That, in view of the manner in which the union delegates were treated by the mine representatives, the position be referred to the executive of the Federation to be dealt with at once." "That this meeting has confidence in the officers of the union, and deplores tha proposal to form an opposition union at such a critical time, as tending to cause a split in the present union." Mr. Semple spoke warmly, condemning in very strong terms the proposal to form another union. He stated that the resolutions just passed, together with a full report of the conference, would be placed before tho executive of the Federation and exhaustively dealt with. Nothing would be done without consulting the union. Messrs. Parry and Semple both agTeed that there was no cause for alarm, and every reason to anticipate that the dispute would be settled amicably. The meeting concluded with cheers for the union and for Mr. Semple. Messrs. Parry, Semple and members of the executive "left for Wellington this morning to attend a meeting of the execuI tive of the Federation on Sunday. The bulk of tbe afternoon shift did not go to work yesterday, so that they might attend the meeting. VttXL THE MEN GO OUT ? AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW. EFFECT ON THE MARKET. The market showed a great improvement this morning as far as mining shares were concerned, and at the noon call sales were made at slightly better rates of Waihis, Grand Junctions, and Talismans. In fact so free were tbe transactions as to lead to the. impression that the chances of the miners going out at Waihi are not considered anything like a certainty. One gentleman who is considerably well-acquainted with the position of affairs at Waihi, said be did not think there was any likelihood of a strike, giving as his reason that the unions have not now got fighting funds like they used to possess prior to the coming in of the Industrial and Conciliation Act. When it was realised that the disputes would in future be all amicably settled, either in the Conciliation Council or the Arbitration Court, the payments to the various unions were correspondingly reduced. "Ot ; course," he added, "it may have the • effect of bringing down the price of ! shares on the market, until it is quite ■ certain the men will not strike. You must know that there are. a good number • of the men who are married, and have ' homes of their own, and they are not ; likely to upset things by voting to go 1 out. Even if there was a strike it ' would only mean a loss of, perhaps, 2." 1 dividend for next quarter as far as tbe " shareholders are concerned, but for the ' men and their wives and families it would -be a much more serious matter. StilL ' as I said before, I do not think it will 3 come off." Another gentleman was, however, not quite so positive upon the matter. His - idea was that if the men came out it would mean letting the water rise in the. mines, as the coal miners' unions would naturally want to support their brother miners, and would insist that no coal be supplied to the companies where the men were out.