THE COAL CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1932, Page 6

THE COAL CONFERENCE.

The eonl owners and the miners have sent delegates to a conference in Wellington called by the Government, and it is in the highest degree important thnt this conference should succeed. It is regrettable, therefore, thnt the four Waikato compnnies affected should have decided to open the Renown colliery with " free labour." It is true they have n perfect right to do so, but what is lawful is not always expedient. It was most important that nothing should bo done by either side to prejudice the conference, and it is really no excuse for the mine owners to say that before the Government's invitation was received arrangements had been made to work the Renown mine. The arrangements could easily have been halted for 24 or 48 hours. What could be won in coal in that interval, plus additional expense incurred, was a circumstance compared with the success of the conference. The Hikuraugi owners had another scheme in hand, but in view of the conference they suspended it. One reason for wishing such a conference, success was that it would render unnecessary the employment of free labour, always a complicating factor in industrial relations. The Christchurch tramway strike furnishes an example of the trouble that is apt to follow such introduction; there are now two unions among the employees. This Waikato development is a serious blunder, and those responsible should at once announce that operations will be stopped pending the result of the conference.