THE OTIRA TUNNEL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 2

THE OTIRA TUNNEL.

: -t CONDITIONS OF LABOUR CRITICISED. Mr. T. J. Malloy, president of the Inangahua Miners' Union, spoke yesterday at the New Zealand Miners' Federation. Confereuco of. the conditions under which tho men are working on the Arthur's Pass (Otira) tunnel. ' The delegate said there was a genuine grievance at Otira, and he brought it before the conference in order that delegates might place the facts before their respective unions. It was not wise for anyone to make a movo to Otira until a better state of things was accomplished. The'workers 1 had understood that they were entitled to free housing. The contractor said he had given them good dwellings free of all' charge. That applied to the single men. • lie (the speaker) had visited Otira a week ago; and had examined. the cottages. The. married men were living in three-roomed', houses, which cost about £30 or £40 each. 'IJhat was too much for a married man to spend, on a house, and tile men were charged 65.-per week for these. The condition of things in the tunnel was worse. Men were being'laid up with rheumatism, and with that disease known as "miner's complaint." If a ;man had any slight abrasion or sore, and', tho water of the tunnel came in contact with it, swelling all over his body resulted. The men had been deprived of the right of crib during their six hours. (A voice: "They want some Blackball men there.") . A proposal had been made to the .workers,' and they had agreed to work eight hours for tho first' three days after the tunnel turned wet, instead of six hours. If the tunnel continued wet, they were to be given the right to work only six hours/ ",He "(Mr. Malloy) had been present at a meeting of the men ever this; at which they, decided not to agree to these terms, and Mr.M'Lean was notified to that effect. As' the awards applying tn the coast fixed six hours as tho shift in a wet tunnel, tho men" decided on no account to work in the tunnel beyond the six hours. Altogether the conditionswere most unsatisfactory, and delegates would confer a lenefit on .the workers ,by advising thein to give the place a wide berth uujtil the Arbitration 'Court had fixed the .rate of wages and the hours of labour. 'H# would move: That this conference enters a most emphatic protest against the conditions of'work, and accommodation which are provided for the workers at the Arthur's Pass tunnel, and to which they are compelled to submit. •Mr. J. Fulton (Waikato) seconded till motion. The chairman (Mr. Robert Semple, of Dunolly), who said that some time ago. he had visited Otira in connection with the Miners' Federation movement, said he had taken particular care to inspect the huts and the married men's places, built by Mr. M'Lean. A small boy coulci crawl through the cracks in tho houses. (Laughter.) As for the huts provided for the single men, it was impossiblo to live in some of them, and the men preferred to live in tents. These dwellings had been built of green timber, and had shrunk considerably. '■ At the time ho was at Otira there was no system used to force the fumes away from the working face in the tunnel, and men succumbed to fits every night through inhaling these fume-s. On the night of the speaker's visit, a dazed man came out from tho face, fell down in a fit, and smashed his nose on a rail. Another man was in the hospital. The. conditions prevailing at Otira wore absolutely .deplorable. Wherever a piece of skin was broken, the water would eat its way into tho bone compelling tho men to knock off. Tho tunnel was now about thirteen chains in, and an announcement had been inado to the men (by a notieo put up inside tho mine) that tho contractor woulr pay them a bonus of £1 for every foot frivol beyond 132 ft.. per fortnight. That was impossible. of attainment. He (Mr. Malloy) had condemned this very strongly in the presence of tho workers, and urged them not to en< courago or entertain 'this bonus system. He advised them to give honest toil, but never to attempt to secure : that bonus. The resolution "was* unanimously adopted.