HUNTLY STRIKE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 98, 22 October 1913, Page 8

HUNTLY STRIKE

VICTIMISATION DENIED MR. HICKEY'S STATEMENTS REFUTED BY COMPANY'S CHAIRMAN. [BY TELEGRAPH — SPECIAL TO THE POST.] AUCKLAND, This Day. The allegation of victimisation, upon which the strikers at Huntly are apparently relying as a means of gaining public sympathy, is specifically denied by the chairman of the Taupiri Coal Mines, Ltd. (Mr. E. W. Alison). Referring to the matter, Mr. Alison again emphasised his original statement that men were dismissed because the company did not require their services, and the men selected for dismissal were those who were least useful to the mine. The right to decide which of its employees should be discharged or retained was one which the company had no intention of surrendering. The length of service of each of the dismissed men has been urged as a reason against their dismissal. In an interview in Wellington on Monday, Mr. Hickey said that all these men had been employed during a period of several years, among them being^ J. Patterson, a check inspector appointed by the union, who had five years' service, and Messrs. Ward and Smith, two members ,of the executive, one with four years' service and the other with two years'. Mr. Alison remarked that this might be taken as a fair specimen of Mr. Hickey's unreliable statements. Patterson has been in the company's employ a little over three years, Ward during a similar period, and Smith during only fifteen months. One of the other men was employed a little over three years, and eleven others during periods ranging from only ono month to fifteen months. Another statement by Mr. Hickey was that at least fourteen men were engaged after the notices of dismissal were handed to the sixteen. " Fourteen men were engaged and had started work before the notice was handed out," Mr. Alison replied to this. " Two of them were miners who had been promised work some time previously, a third was a fitter, £,nd the others were all truckers." TOWN VERY QUIET EMPLOYERS "SHUFFLING THE CARDS." MINES MAY BE DAMAGED BY WATER. ■ (BY TULKfI*/?H— PRESS ASBO3MTIOU.) HAMILTON, This Day. Huntly is very quiet. Seven fitters belonging to the Miners' Union, who tamed to on Monday,' awaiting a declaration as to their position, acting on instructions ceased work yesterday. The executive of the Engtneman and Firemen's Union has refused an invitation to meet the miners' executive to discuss tho position, stating while sympathising with the men dismissed it regretted the hasty action taken by the union, and by not holding a, secret ballot. The watet' makes very rapidly in the Huntly mines, and should "the pumps cease work great damage will be done, as the pumps are underground, and new machinery will be required in case of flooding. Mr. Wood, president of the Miners' Union, in a statement yesterday 3aid that while the company claimed it started fourteen truckers 'and not miners, yet they filled the places of truckers who had been placed in the mines as substitutes 'of the dismissed miners. There h{*d been a shuffling of cards on the part of the employers. The discharged men had been employed at Huntly for terms of three to thirteen years. The horses w,all be brought to the surface to-day. It is doubtful whether the trouble will be over this Bide of Christmas, as both bides are determined. SIGNIFICANT MOVE i r HORSES REMOVED FROM THE PIT. TWO "SCALPS" TO THE PICKETS. [»V TELEGRAPH — SPECIAL TO THE POST.] HUNTLY, This Day. Huntly wears the ■ same quiet appearance to-day or during previous days of the strike. A most interesting occurrence was an attempt made at midday to lift the horses from the pit, the operation being witnessed by a large crowd of interested spectators, mostly strikers. No indication of any feeling other than curiosity was evidenced, but there is reason to believe that the event will carry significance to ,the strikers as to the' firm attitude adopted by the company. This morning two men of a small group who have been going to work failed to put in an appearance when the whistle sounded. ' One of them was the object of good-natured chaffing as he went home last night, and both may be regarded as "scalps" to the pickets.