MINERS BOYCOTT MEETING

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23748, 21 September 1942, Page 4

MINERS BOYCOTT MEETING

Manpower Minister’s Reception

MASS GATHERING WANTED (P.S.S.) HUNTLY, Sept. 20. The boycott by the miners of a meeting in the Huntly Town Hall, appeals to the men in the open street by the Minister of Industrial Manpower (the Hon. A. McLagan), who is also the national secretary of the United Mine Workers of New Zealand, to come inside and discuss their grievances, and the dispersal of the crowd as he began to speak were dramatic incidents this morning, in the Waikato coal dispute. The episode culminated in a meeting of about 40 men being addressed by the Minister and officials of the Northern Miners’ Union. At this meeting it was decided to call a mass meeting of miners in Huntly to-morrow to discuss the dispute and proposals for a settlement. With the arrival from Wellington yesterday morning of Mr McLagan and the local union secretary (Mr T. Hall), speculation on the prospects of a settlement gained fresh stimulus. They conferred with members of the union executive, but no official pronouncement was made until late in the evening, when notices calling for separate meetings for to-day were posted outside the Huntly Town Hall, and similar announcements were broadcast and also given from the stage of the local picture theatre. The meeting for men resident in Huntly was arranged for 10 a.m. and the others at Renown Hall, Glen Afton, and Glen Massey for the afternoon and evening. Special buses were arranged to be run from Huntly to the outlying townships. About 300 men had gathered in Huntly’s main street by 10 a.m, to-day, but very few were in the vicinity of the hall, and at 10.15 the attendance inside did not exceed 30. More men joined the throng in the street, but there was no move to enter the hall. A stir went through the group of men when Mr McLagan came from the hall at 10.30, and from the kerbside began to speak.

Minister’s Appeal

“Men of the Northern Mining Union," Mr McLagan began. Several scores of mefii in the near groups turned and walked along the street to take up a stand out of hearing about 40 yards away, Mr McLagan continued to address the comparatively few remaining men, and appealed for support of the meeting, which he alleged had been boycotted by arrangement. A voice: Who called the meeting? Mr McLagan: It was called by the union executive and those who say otherwise are lying. Another voice: Why don’t you call a mass meeting of the men? Mr McLagan: You can come into the meeting to discuss that. It is a proper place to discuss your business and not on the streets.

A few more men joined the others in the hall, and Mr McLagan then walked about 90 yards up the street and from the footpath opposite the post office began to make a further appeal. Again there was a mass dispersal of the groups standing nearby, about 150 men crossing to the other side and congregating about 50 yards away. Mr McLagan continued his brief speech and was received with many inaudible interjections. He said there were men who were attempting to wreck the union. Mr McLagan returned to the hall, and the meeting was resumed shortly before 11 a.m. It continued for more than one hour. The attendance fluctuated as parties of men entered and left the hall; the largest number present was 52. There are stated to be about 600 miners actually residing in the town. It was estimated that there were 350 men in the ever-changing crowd in the street during the B0 minutes of the episode, but apart from the silent rejection of the advances made to them, there were no incidents. Meetings Abandoned The proposed meetings in the other townships were abandoned as a result of the decision at the Huntly meeting. The 182 Pukemiro miners who were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment on Friday remained at liberty over the week-end. Predictions as to the outcome of the meeting varied; but there is a belief that a settlement is brought appreciably nearer by the mere fact of permitting the men to meet in one body. This has bden a dominant factor in the negotiations over recent days, as the system of holding sectional meetings has been vigorously and consistently opposed. It is an open secret that several delegates left the conference with Mr McLagan yesterday on this issue, and that the executive’s subsequent decision to hold several meetings to-day was not totally representative. The general feeling is that the meeting called for to-morrow paves the way for an early resumption of full production. It will provide an opportunity for the men to hammer out a solution towards that end.