NEWCASTLE STRIKES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 90, 9 January 1908, Page 5

NEWCASTLE STRIKES

COURT'S FINDING. | STRIKERS GUILTY OF BREACH. OF ' I ■ AGREEMENT. , ' OWNERS MAGNANIMOUS. : j BY TELEGRAPH—rRESS ASSOCIATION—COrYMGIIT. (Rec. Jan. 8, 9.38 p.m.) j . Sydney, January 8. Dealing with the action pf ( tho. men wW ceased work at tho Terallja group of mines, the Special Court set up ijnder Judge Hoydpn (President of tho State Arbitration Court) , found that the-.men at the Teriilba' Mines had, by leaving work, broken. ( the agreement under which the Special Court was constituted, and had thoreby justified 1 tho proprietors in withdrawing from tho Court if they so desired. ■ ■ Mr, Bowling, the miners' .< representative on tho Court, considered that tl(c men' might liavo committpd a technical breaoh of the agreopient, but that morally they, were m the right. The proprietors' representatiye announced that the proprietors desired to abide, by tho agreement. He said'.that if tho Teralba men would return to work, and would let the. matter , come before tjie Court, the. propria tors would not withdraw from the Court. On the application of. the miners' adyor oate, tho Court' adjourned till: to 7 morrow, in order tp allow tho Minors' Federation an opportunity tp advise the strikers to resume work. ■ •' Tho Minors' Committee of . Management subsequently met and advised the strikers to resume, , . DEMANDS EXPLAINED, i Writing under date January, ; 4; our Sydney correspondent states:— ■ "Not the miners, but that section of the employees known as 'shooters,' and 'fillers,' and. wl)eelers liavo caused furthor'trouble at Newr castle, and, as a result, tho situation is again perilous. .It was generally understood that all disputes were to be referred to the special ! mining tribunal appointed to investigate the causes of the recont striko, hut .in the present instance, -the men ■ responsible . for the new trouble liiive broken that clear understanding, lfour collieries have no\y been thrown idle—tho Pacific and Rhondda mines, jp , the Teralba district; the Dudley mine, near ' Charleston j and tho Killingwortn mine, near West end. At the Rhone!da and Pacific, collieries, .where cpal-cutting'machines' are installed, tho shooters nn() fillers demanded' an : advance in wages from Is. Id. to Is. sd. per ton from the first of the year. The proprietors, in reply, offered Is, 3d., but this'was rpf used, and\tlje men have accordingly dccUneiJ: to continue work, The trouble at the Dudley and Killing? worth mines has originated with- tho wheelers, wljo also .want more money. The miners, it is helioved, have no sympathy with any such move at the present juncture,, as tbey . are awaiting-the settlement of all grievances. by the now court; but the gravity of the position arises from the fact that if any section of tho employees, Whether miners or not, deliberately break the bargain entered into at the, time this tribunal was that a truce should be called, and that work, | should continue without interruption pending the inquiry—the owners on their sido will be | entitled to withdraw altogether, jfrom the negotiations, and thus we may. be confronted once again with the calamity of a general strike. The State Premier, Mr- Wade, has promptly telegraphed to the acting-President' of. fhe Northern Minors'. Association calling his atr tention to this fact. ' "A fresh labpur trouble, which hag'nothing to do with the collieries, but may' proyo seriously inconvenient for the steamship owners, has ocourrqd at Nowcdstlo in the strike of the wharf labourers. They declare that, their pay is quite inadequate, especially as their work is of san, intermittent cliaraotor; and yesterday •tlioy feftiscd to handle car^o"by"any of the. inter-State .boats unless they were paid Is'; 3d. per hour all,, round,, and.- Js.. Bd. '• per . hour. ,for overtime, .Tho result of this is obvious. The consignees' of cargo are unable to got it landed, One Newcastle merchant has 'been waiting in vain for goods which arrived at the port on Wed; pesday, work having been stopped at various steamers. It proceeded as usual on the Union Company's stenmor Wakatipii yesterday, as thp> Company, rather than suffer lops aud delay, 'agreed to pay the men what they claimed, The'crew of the Newcastlo Steamship Company's Hunter went on unloading their vessel by direction of the owners, but at mid-day they stopped under instructions-from the Sea-, men's Union, of which they are members, The officers then touk a hand {it discharging, tho cargo. As they were unaccustomed to the work it proceeded very slowly, and the steamer had to leave again for Sydney at night with a large quantity of the cargo still in the hold."