WAIHI STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 243, 14 October 1935, Page 8

WAIHI STRIKE.

CONFERENCE HELD. MINISTER AT AUCKLAND. EFFORT AT SETTLEMENT. In the hope of bringing about a settlement of the strike at Waihi a conference was begun in Auckland this morning between representatives of the Martha Gold Mining Company and the Ohinemuri Mines and Batteries Union and branches of the union concerned in the dispute. The Minister of Labour, Mr. Hamilton, presided. The conference adjourned at' midday and was continued this afternoon. ' The fact that the Minister of Labour has been able to bring representatives of the parties together is regarded as a hopeful sign that a solution will be speedily found. The question at issue is whether the increased wage rates conceded by the company should be made retrospective from May 11 last, the date on which the Martha Company came into existence. Negotiations between the parties having failed to result in a settlement, a secret ballot of the union and the district branches of the Amalgamated Engineers, Carpenters and Joiners' Union and the Engincdrivers and Winders' Union was held in August, when out of a total of 35!) votes 4i>s were in favour of a strike. This ballot gave the men the right to strike at any time after giving the company seven clear days' notice, and it was unanimously decided at a mass meeting on September 29 to give the company notice of intention to cease work at midnight on Monday, October 7. Approximately 050 workers are involved in the dispute, about 490 being employed in and about the mine at Waihi and the remainder at the Victoria Battery, at Waikino.