WORK IN WET PLACES

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25148, 1 April 1947, Page 6

WORK IN WET PLACES

MINISTER REVIEWS DISPUTE AGREEMENT REACHED IN DECEMBER (P.A.) WELLINGTON, March 31. In a statement Issued to-day the Minister of Mines (Mr A. McLagan) said the strike in the Huntly coal field related to hours worked by men in wet places underground, and the time that miners were required to work in such places to qualify for full wet time payment. According to reports received by the Mines Department, said the Minister, the dispute arose at the Pukemiro colliery, where one pair of miners working in a wet place came out before the recognised knock off time, notwithstanding that a prior notice of warning had been given that payment of the wet-time allowance would be suspended in such circumstances. Payment of the wet-time allowance to this pair of miners was suspended by the manager, and the matter was subsequently discussed with the union, but no settlement could be reached. The union then claimed that a wettime allowance of two hours be paid if the men wet within the first three hours Of the shift, regardless of time worked during the shift, and that 1.10 p.m. be recognised as knock-off time for miners working in wet places, instead of 2 p.m. as laid down in the agreement. A meeting of managers of Waikato collieries was held later, and the following offer was made to the union: “That the managers agree to pav the wet-time in dispute, but they will not agree .to the introduction of the 1.10 p.m. knock off. and require the unipn to co-operate in getting their men to work to the time recognised in the past, and that disciplinary action be taken against any workman who does not abide by this rule.” Definition of Wet Place Apparently this was not considered acceptable by the miners. According to the agreement, said the Minister, men in wet places shall work six hours bank to bank, and each piece-rate worker shall be paid for two hours at 3s 9£d a hour. A wet place is defined as meaning a place in which a workman cannot avoid his clothing becoming saturated with water within three hours of his commencing work. “It is clear from the agreement,” said the Minister, “than in an ordinary wet place a miner must work si" hours to qualify for the full wet-time allowance of two hours, and the present claim of the union, both in regard to hours of work and for payment, is not in accordance with the terms of the agreement under which the miners are at present working, and which was made in December last year. This agreement does not expire until April 30, 1948. “To put it in a nutshell, the miners are claiming the full wet-time payment, even if they do not qualify for it by working the full six hours shift, and they are also claiming the right to work a shorter shift than is prescribed in their agreement. “It is a matter for regret,” said the Minister, “that the men have decided on the course of action they have taken. I know from my own experience that in coal-mining in particular it is not always possible to avoid disputes arising, but there are methods whereby such disputes can be settled without a stoppage of work. Numerous disputes arise in collieries in the course of time, but these are settled without stoppage of work by reference to local disputes committees, or to the Coal Mines Council. If miners in the Waikato had attempted to settle every dispute which had arisen in that field during the last 12 months by a down tools policy there would have been very little, if any, coal produced during that period. It is obvious, therefore* that under conditions whereby the men are assured of receiving fair and just treatment, their interest, as well as the interests of the people as a whole, are best promoted by a continuance of work,, and the reference of disputes which cannot be settled locally to the Coal Mines Council for adjudication in the ordinary way.”