MINING STRIKE.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15746, 13 November 1916, Page 8

MINING STRIKE.

♦ THE STRIKERS' AIMS. A LONG STETJ<3<3I/E MKELY, (By Cable.—Prces A mnri xi\cm.—CopyxigMj 3IELBOUEHE, November 11. The colliery proprietors, in a statement, say that the strike is against constituted authority. Th© real object of the Miners* Federation is to obtain by force the abolition, of the present wage eystem, and substitute common, ownership. A deputation of the Associated Cham-: bers of Manufacturers of Australia wait- j ed upon Mr W. M. Hughes in reference j to the supply of coal for industries. : As there appears little possibility of, the Federal and State Governments in- j tervening, a protracted struggle seems, certain. j MUNITION "WORK BIXXIKED. j SYDNEY, November 11., j Owing the coal shortage 800 em-j ployees of the Broken Hill Company's j Steel Woiis, at Newcastle, have been j paid off, resulting in the cessation of | the manufacture of munitions steel for: the British Government. j THE INDUSTRIAL CBTSIB, frrnnif OTTR OWH COBBJPOSMW.) SYDNEY, November 6The coal-miners have demanded the bank-to-bank clause —-th&t is t that they shall be paid from the time they leave the surface of the earth until they reappear. The employers offered to pay what -was practically a rate until the matter could be decided by arbitration. This the men refused. Both sides were obdurate, and now practically every coal-mine in Australia is idle, and a prolonged strike is probable. However strong influences aro <it work. Both Federal and State authorities are prepared to take drastic action to provent a shortage of coal, and the consequent paralysis of industry, and the trouble may be overcome at anv moment. All available coal stocks" have already been seized by tno Governments. . . Shipping is already disorganised. Almost every ship expects to pick up bunker coal here; failing that, she cannot go on. So every day, as the ships come in, they are being tied up for an indefinite period. Already the lines of idle vessels present an appalling sight. Crews aro being paid off every day, and irf a Ibtle while, a great proportion ot waterside workers of all kinds "Will not be workers. _ Further industrial trouble may be looked for almost immediately. If the coal strike lasts, sympathy strikes are almost inevitable. But a very pretty storm is being forecasted in another direction. The trade unions, more and more furiously, are demanding the cancellation of the proclamation which is gathering the young men into the training camps. They argue that, since "No" has been carried, the proclamation is not now required. They consider that the proclamation is the embodiment of Mr Hughes's challenge toward.? them. They know that, between themselves and Mr Hughes, it is war to the death—and they desire to enter the struggle before Mr Hughes gets his forces marshalled. Sooner or later there must ocenr in Australia that fight between constituted authority and industrial lawlessness that New Zealand experienced in 1913, only in Australia strikes on the flimsiest pretexts have been allowed for so long that the struggle wif] be intensely bitter. The present definite break between the Government and the Labour partv. and the action of the coalworkers in striking at a time when the Empire is involved in a life-awl-death war, may provide an opportunity for teaching the lawless factions of Labour a lesson. Apart from that, there is'no doubt that organised Labour is thinking of forcing the withdrawal of the proclamation by calling a genemi strike. In any rase, the struggle •n-iil be bitter —how bitter. onlv_ those who live here and know the unionist, and how intensely he Is hated by the non-trade union class, can realise. eThe events of the next week will show whether the gravest industrial struegle the Commonwealth has yet. known is tlevelooing, or whether it is to be postponed for the time being. MINERS - UNION OFFICIAL'S VIEWS. WILL THE STRIKE EXTEND TO NEW ZEALAND? (PRESS ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAJI.) WESTPORT, November 11. Mr John Dowgray, a prominent miners' union official, interviewed, said: "The miners at Newcastle aro on strike for a privilege enjoyed by the coalminers in New Zealand and Great Britain for a number of years." He denies that reducing the hours meana a

reduction of the output. So far at i the bank-to-bank hours are concerned, ] a reduction of the hours of work, cveo ! more obviously than an increase ol wages, benefits not only the employee, but the employer, and that is why it has bo frequently been accomplished without friction. Asked whether the strike was Ekely to affect New Zealand, Mr Duwgny replied: <f I am not in a position to say at present. The Australian miners certainly have the best wishes of the New Zealand miners in the struggle, t for the same conditions enjoyed here. They also consider their right to an eight hours bank-to-bank is unanswerable, and ought to have been granted without a.stoppage of work. Personally, Ido not tliink the strike will affect New Zealand so long as no attempt is made to R bfp coal to AustaulML The New Zealand coal companies, owine to . t the shortage of labour, can hardly \ meet their own orders, eocoal to AusI tralia from New -Zealand ia out of tha | question.'' ijj =====