COAL MINE STRIKE

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25549, 17 July 1948, Page 6

COAL MINE STRIKE

NO AGREEMENT REACHED ARBITRATION PROPOSAL NOT ACCEPTED From Our Own Reporter WELLINGTON. July 16. No agreement has been reached for the settlement of the dispute at the Runanga coal mines after this week’s negotiations between the Government and representatives of the Runanga Miners’ Union. As a means of overcoming the deadlock, the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) suggested that both sides agree to the dispute being referred to an independent arbitrator and that work be resumed in the meantime, but this suggestion has been rejected by the union.

It is understood that the miners' representatives are giving a report of the result of the deputation to a meeting of members of the union to be held on Sunday. It is also understood that the Miners’ National Council, at a meeting held in Wellington on Wednesday, advised the union that the overwhelming majority of the miners had decided to support the council in recommending the Runanga miners to accept the Government’s offer for a settlement of the dispute, and ito resume work. The Minister of Minos (Mr A\ McLagan) stated this evening that representatives of the Runanga Miners’ Union met the Prime Minister and himself in Wellington to discuss the dispute at the Runanga mines. The members of the Miners’ National Council were present during the greater part of the discussions, he said. The miners’ representatives said that it had been the custom for many years for the union to be allowed to hold stop-work meetings without the members being docked for loss of time in attending the meetings. In reply, Mr McLagan said that he had asked the State mines office at Runanga to examine their records to find out what had been the custom concerning these meetings. The records were examined for the Strongman mine, and for 1947 they showed that during that year the men were docked on six occasions for attending stopwork meetings, and that the claim that it was customary not to make any deduction for attending these meetings was not raised on any occasion during 1947. The Prime Minister said that, since it was not possible to reach a settlement of the dispute by agreement, he would suggest to the union that both sides agree to refer tho matter to an independent arbitrator for settlement, and in the meantime that work be resumed at the mines. This suggestion was not’ acceptable to the union.