BLACKBALL STRIKE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 63, 14 March 1908, Page 9

BLACKBALL STRIKE.

CHARGES AGAINST THE COMPANY. THE ARBITRATION COURT'S DECISION. [By Telegbapu. — Special to The Post.] GREYMOUTH, 13th March. In the application by the union for enforcement of award, the court, after setting out the application by the union, said :— "The men who were dismissed were all pieceworkers, and they were dismissed before ths end of their shift. They were all, with one exception, working in places which had been cavilled for in accordance with clause 13 of the award (Hook of Awards, Vol. 111., page 423), which provides that all places aco to ba cavilled for every three months. "It was contended that the effect of the clause was to make the engagement of a. miner in these circumstances a hiring for at least three months, or until his place had been worked out. This is a view of the relation between employer and miner which has not been at anytime acted on in this mine, or, so far as we know, in any other mine in the Dominion. The practice at the Blackball mine has always been toi a miner to leave whenever he pleased, aud even before he had finished his shift. "We think that the provision in the award as to cavilling does not by implication fix any period during which the relation of master and servant is to ' continue between ihe miner and the company j that In the absence of any stipulation on the subject, a pieceworker may leave Whenever he pleases, and that his employer may dispense with his services whenever he pleases, and need not wait until the end of the shift. We hold, therefore, that the union has failed to establish that the company has committed any breach of award by dismissing the men in question. "The next allegation against the company is that it committed an offence un. cler section 108 of the Act of 1905 by dismissing these men by reason merely of the fact that they were members of the Blackball Miners' Union. The evidence shows that of the seven men who were dismissed only two — viz., Fox and Milligan — were known to the manager to be members of the union, and the union has failed altogether to prove tho alleged offence. The reason for reducing the number of miners m the mine was the fact that the union had refused to allow any of the truckers to work more than eight Hours per day. Mr. Leitch says that he selected the men to be dismissed because they were the least suitable for the work of the mine, but it appears to be doubtful whether this v.-as the real reason, and we suspect that Mr. Leitch wished to get rid of these -nen because- he supposed that they had been responsible largely for the trouble in connection with the question of cribtime and the reduction of the hours of trucking. "We do not decide that this was Mr. Leitch's reason, but even if it was his roason, hs was within his legal rights in tho matter. "It is also alleged that the company created a lock-out by dismissing these Jien. Only seven out of eighty miners were dismissed, and the company was willing and anxious to carry on operations with the remaining seventy-three miners. In these circumstances ; fc is clear that no lock-out has taken place. "Tho application for enforcement is therefore dismissed, and tlip union is ordered to pay the company's costs, which we fix at £3 35."