A DEADLOCK

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 18, 20 July 1918, Page 4

A DEADLOCK

, THE COAL CRISIS

MINERS REPLY TO EMPLOYERS

WILLING TO NEGOTIATE.

SPEEDING UP -SYSTEM REPUGNANT.

'The following official statement by the fi Coal /Miners': Federation, signed, by

Messrs. P. O'Rourke (president), R. Semple (miners' agent), and W. E. Parry (secretary), has been issued : "After protracted efforts, extending . over a period of seven months, on the part of the Miners' Federation to arrange a conference with the Coal Mine • .-Owners' Association for the purpose of discussing a demand made by the miners for a 20 per cent, increase on the present ' rates of pay, and in spite of the recent attempt of tho Government to bring about such a conference, the Owners' Association has resolutely refused to meet us, and, consequently, our endeavour to achieve an amicable settlement of the matters in dispute has proved abortive, and a deadlock has been reached. The employers made a public statement on the matter some seven or eight days ago, while negotiations were still going on between the Government and the miners. On the other hand, the miners refused to make a public statement until all possible avenues had been i closed against a probable settlement, j We feel that our position is such, owing to the employers refusing to meet us; and the Government's overtures having failed to bring about a conference, that a public statement of our case is necessary. ..- ' ''In the Coal Mine Owners Association's reply to the Government, a. resolution is embodied as follows :— "'That, as agreements have been entered into between individual coal mine owners and individual miners' unions, this association is of opinion "" that consideration of any question of varying terms of any agreements should only be made between the contracting parties.. Therefore the request for a conference between the Coal Mine Owners' Association and tho Miners' Federation is unnecessary.' "The above-resolution, which was the Srst> carried by the Mine Owners' Conference, was the finding of a national association endeavouring to impose its decisions on individual local unions, and these decisions are backed up by all the powers of-national organisation. /Further, in spite of this utilisation of its mixed strength as a national body, backed up as it is by a still larger national or"ganieationj the Employers' Federation, the association refuses to entertain the proposal of a conference with the Coal Miners' Federation- This means in plain language that their national organisation refuses to meet the national organisation of miners. "The second resolution passed by the Coal Owners' Conference was as follows : '"That as- existing industrial agreements made under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts have only been recently ■ entered into between the Miners' Union and the respective mining companies, and have still a considerable period of currency, 'and as there are no justifiable grounds * for any further increase in wages, in view of the fact that the earnings of coal-mine workers who work full available time compare more than favourably with those of other classes of workers, the ooal mine owners cannot see their way to agree to vary the terms of existing agreements.' READJUSTMENT SOUGHT. "This resolution implies that the coal miners do not work full available ''•". time, and that there are no justifiable grounds for a' further increase in wages.; and, as a result, they (the owners) cannot see their way to vary existing agreements. We wish it to be clearly understood that the miners are not asking -for a variation in /existing agreements, in the way that the employers wish to imply.' We have not asked for any change in the working conditions or any alteration in the body of the agreements. ■ The only question at issue is- one of a' readjustment of wages, and this readjustment has been made imperative owing to the increased cost of living. So far the only proposals for an alteration of the conditions at present specified in the agreements have been put forward by the Coal Owners' Association itself, and these proposals have for their objective the speeding-up of the men, and wherever they have been adopted have resulted in a large increase in accidents. It is alleged by the coal owners, who make no attempt to prove their statement, that there is no justifiable ground for an increase in wages. They merely make a vague assertion that the miners 'were earning very high wages, ranging from 17s to 24s and 25s per day.' "Now, what is the real position of the miners actually engaged in hewing coal whose earnings are higher than the miners who work on wages? The coal-own-ers' estimate of the miners' wages as ranging from 17s to 25s per day is computed by a method similar to that adopted in the calculation of the wages of an actor, who, receiving £5 for a 30 milllutes' turn, is credited with an income of £10 per day, or £2SO per week. Consideration is not given in this case to the time during the which actor does not work, nor to the fact that some actors are better than others. The coal-owners' statement is analogous, no allowance be-, ing made by them for the time the miner does not work, or for the varied conditions under which he works, or for the fact that some men are physically stronger than others. It must be remembered that the coal miner works on an average only .240 days in the year, because 52 Sundays, 26 pay Saturdays, 17 holidays, and a total of 30 days for accidents, sickness, breakdowns of machinery, gas, falls, timber, wamVof shipping, transit, etc., must be deducted. ■ WAGES ANALYSED. "According to figures produced by the Crown Prosecutor at Auckland in 1917, during the trials of the miners' leaders,' in order to prove that the miners went slow, tfie average wage throughout New Zealand was 18s 6d per day prior to the alleged go-slow policy. As the accused miners' officials were convicted on this evidence we presume we can take it as reliable. As a matter of fact, it was accepted, and published in a pamphlet, by the Employers' Federation. To this must be added a 7£ per cent, increase that the miners have received since the average wage was compiled by the Crown Prosecutor, which would bring the total to 19s 10£ d per shift. This wage on first j sight might seem rather high, but when multiplied by 240, the average number of days worked, the actual year's earnings are £238 13s. Aganist this yearly income he has an outlay in 1918 of £219 3s 3d, based upon a budget compiled by the working miners' wives in the various districts. Ibis budget covers the necessaries of life for a man, wife, and three children, which is, according to our statistics, the average family. It also includes £29 for explosives, light, and tools, etc.. which must be bought by the miner, and which ware conveniently forgotten by the coal-owners when stating

the 'very high wages earned' by the miners.' We wish it to be understood that the budget covers bare upkeep ,and does not include union fees, Accident Association, medical subscription, newspapers, lodge dues, insurance, crockery, ironmongery, furniture, books, education or recreation. It will be; seen that the miners! 1 financial balance at the end of the year is £19 9s 9d> out of which he has to provide for all the essentials not included in the household budget, and in addition make provision for old age. PAST AND PRESENT WAGES. "In order that the miners' case should be clearly understood a comparison based upon the domestic budget must be made between his financial position, as shown in his yearly balance, to-day, with that of 1914. Such: a comparison proves that the miner at present is approximately 55 per cent, to the bad ; hi 6 surplus, after paying for bare necessaries, out of which he has to -meet all the family expenses not included in the budget, has been reduced to that extent. The miners' wage in 1914 was 16s 10jd per day, that is according to the average pay quoted by the Crown Prosecutor at Auckland in 1917, 10 per cent. being added during the three years between 1914 and 1917. Here again let j us multiply his daily wage by the actual days worked, 240. This makes.his income for the: year 1914 £201 16s 4d, against' an outlay of £144 18a sd, including £20 10s for explosives, lights,, tools, etc. Thus he has left a balance over and above bare upkeep, of £56 17s lid ,in 1914, as against a balance in 1918 of £19 9s 9d. Let it be here noted that the difference between the cost of living for the same budget in 1914 and that of 1918 was £74 4s lOd, as against the rise in earnings of £36 16s Bd. It will be seen by those figures that the miner is not so well paid as the coal owners would have the public believe, and that there is some justification for the miners' demand^ The only increase received by the miners in wages from the commencement of the war-to date is- 17£ per cent. DEARER FOOD. "Side by side with this: 17£ per cent, increase- in wages, the index figures of the Government Statistician show that the increased coat of the three combined food groups for the Dominion, excluding clothing, boots, household utensils, rent, etc., has risen 39.6 per cent. We now come to the men who work on wages in and around the mines. The earnings are very much lower than those of the miners engaged at the face. While the' conditions under which these men work' are similar to those of the miners, the aver- ! age time worked by them is 255 days as against 240. It might be asked why the wages men work more time than the hewers of coal. That is explained by j the fact that these men are riot subjected to the same loss of time as the hewers are, through timber, pillar, fall of roof, breakdowns, shipping, transit, etc. The wages man in 1914 wae receiving an average of 10b per,day. This multiplied by 255 working days made his income £127, 10s, against an' outlay of £124 8s sd, leaving him a balance of £3 Is 7d to cover essentials not included in the budget, and to provide for old age. "In 1918 the average wage of this section of the mine workers was. 12s per day, which, multiplied by 255 days, gives him an income of £153 per year, against an outlay of £190 3s 3d, leaving a deficit of £37 3s 3d. It will be asked, no doubt, how this section of the mineworkers live. The answer is that such men can only manage to struggle along on a lowered standard of living. "SELF-CONTRADICTORY." "Not only is the coal-owners' statement misleading, but it is also self-con-tradictory. They first state that there, is no adequate reason for an' increase in wages or for any variation of the existI ing agreements. _ Yet they proceed to [ state that 'the mining companies arepre- | pared to enter into contracts which will materially increase the earnings of truckI ers, and thus remove any complafhts as to the rates of pay being received.' "It will be noticed that the mineowners acknowledge the existence of a grievance in connection with present rates, and by their alternative proposals, themselves of a. most vicious nature, they in affect concede the justice of the men's claims. Why the coal-owners are anxious to make these variations in the body of the agreements is quite obvious. Their adoption means the speeding-up system, which is repugnant to the miners, and a. forerunner of increased accidents. INCREASED PRODUCTION. "The implication of the coal-owners that the miners could' do more work is surely not put forward seriously, in view of the fact that the miners of New Zealand are to-day producing more coal per man than at any other time in the history of the country. Indeed, as mining statistics prove, the output per miner in New Zealand is a world's record. Yet, in face of this, the owners ask the Government to appeal to the miners' patriotism to increase the output of coal. This trading upon the word 'patriotism' will be estimated by the public at its proper value. We are tempted to suggest that the consumers i of coal could appeal with greater reason to the owners, in the name of 'patriotism,' in connection with tho increase in the price of coal, particularly when- it is compared with the increase in the hewing rates received by the miner. These increases in the retail prices, extending over a period of six years, together with the average increaso per ton in hewing rates, are as follow: —

"The increase in the retail price of State coal ranges from 3s to 6s per ton. The increase in the retail prices of private companies' coal ranges from 6s 6d to 28s per ton. The increase J which the miner has received for hew- i ing the coal ranges from 4d to 5d per ton, and the miner has to- pay for his tools, the prices of which hove increased over 100 per cent. "The above statistics show that the price of coal in bulk has increased from 6s 6d to 28s per ton, while the miners' , increase has been only 4^d to 5d per ton. This latter, surely, cannot be considered a very 'unpatriotic' increase, when compared with that imposed by the owners. "We are anxious that the public of this country should be conversant with the position, as it affects both the miner and the consumer of coal, and with that end in view we are prepared to place all our cards on the table, and let the public be the jury. We are firmly of the opinion that neither dignity nor prestige

j would be lost by either the coal owners or the miners if "both sides agree to meet in conference for the purpose of free and open discussion of the matters involved, -but that, on the contrary, the best in- - terests of the community would boy served by such a meeting. MINERS OPEN TO NEGOTIATE. "In conclusion, we would point out that' the Miners' Federation has endeavoured in every -possible way to avoid anything that might conceivably lead up to an industrial dislocation. They have already done their utmost, at a great expense to the miners' unions, to bring .about a conference which, they feel certain, would be the preliminary to a satisfactory settlement. In this course of action the miners have mainly been influenced by the serious shortage of coal supplies at present existing, and Ihe hardship which that shortage en-, tails to the- public in general, but more particularly to the poorer classes. So far as the Miners' Federation is concerned, it is still open for negotiations. Meanwhile, we lay our case before the people' of New Zealand, confidently believing that they will agree that, our attitude is a reasonable one, and that it is the duty of the Government to take such steps as are necessary and just to brinn- about a consultation between the Coaf Owners' Association and the Miners' Federation."

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