STRIKE THREAT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 45, 22 August 1938, Page 8

STRIKE THREAT

STIFFENED ATTITUDE

AUSTRALIAN COAL MINERS

A LOG OF CLAIMS

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, August 13,

The threat of a serious strike on the coalfields has become more serious because of the deliberations of the national convention of the Miners' Federation and its decision, among others, to reject the offer of the State Government to set up a tribunal to investigate safety conditions in the mines.

The temper of the convention, at which delegates from all States and New Zealand were present, was shown by the opening address of the president, Mr. C. Nelson, who declared: — "If the powers that be indicate that discussions on our claims will not l>e the order of the day we will- go into the coalfields and stage the most historic strike the industry has known."

Among the miners' claims are shorter hours, greater safety in mines, and pensions for aged miners. Mr. Nelson warned delegates that mechanical devices which cut more coal and yielded higher profits brought little lasting benefit to the* miners, and that the industry needed reorganising. Production by Australian miners was greater than in any other country, he said, and it demanded a shorter working week. An international committee had recommended to the League of Nations a day of 7 hours 15 minutes. A seven-hour day was already operating at Collie (Western Australia), and the New Zealand Government planned shorter hours. Existing production methods, without considering the development of mechanical loaders, demanded a shortening of hours to six a day. "If mechanisation proceeds at the same tempo we are faced with a grave problem," he continued. "Desolation and degradation face the mining communities, while interlocked mining and industrial companies are gaining fabulous profits. The miners have taken up the challenge to demand that chaos in the industry must cease." THE INDUSTRY'S DEATH ROLL. A memorial ceremony for the men killed in mines—73 within the last year in the Eastern States alone, the convention was told—consisted of delegates observing with bowed heads one minute's silence before opening their business. Mentioning the "red record" of mine deaths in the past year, Mr. Edgar Ross, an officer of the central executive of the union, asked: "Who among the delegates assembled here has not himself dug feverishly into- a solid wall of coal to release a comrade crushed by a fall—a comrade who a few minutes before was cracking a joke? Is there a delegate who himself has not seen a mate mangled by a skip, mutilated by flying rock, or maimed in one of the scores of other ways known to King Coal?" The procedure of the convention is to complete a log of claims. The main points of this will be: Working hours to be 30 in a week of five days underground, and 35 on the surface; creation of a mine safety bureau to enforce new and safer methods of work; immediate amendment of the coal mine regulations and electrical special rules to ensure maximum safety and health protection; an amendment prohibiting the employment of safety officials in production; establishment of a pensions fund for the retirement of old men on a minimum of £2 a week, to be financed by a levy of 3d a ton on production and supplemented "by a grant from royalties received by the States; drafting and enforcing regulations to compel the adoption of hydraulic stowage for conserving coal resources; control of production, prices, and marketing of coal. FEDERAL AND STATE ATTITUDES. The miners are endeavouring to have their claims considered as a vital national issue, instead of a State one, but the Prime Minister, Mr. Lyons, has indicated Federal reluctance to intervene. Stating that it was imperative that a settlement should be reached, Mr. Lyons said that the Federal Government wduld deal with the various aspects of the coal-mining dispute as they arose. A strike would create chaos all over Australia, and would be an economic tragedy that must be averted at all costs. The Federal Government had not received an invitation from any party to intervene in the impending dispute, but it was a matter for the whole Cabinet whether the Government would be prepared to act in the national interest without wait-; ing for the formality of an invitation. The New South Wales Premier, Mr. Stevens, also expressed the Government's intention not to intervene in the industrial issues, .because there were established tribunals to deal with them, but he offered to establish a tribunal immediately to investigate; safety conditions in the mines, though the Government believed the present \ regulations were adequate. The miners' j convention rejected this offer, on the ground that the safety issue could not be separated from the general issues. The present outlook for a settlement is not bright. Many observers are prepared for the institution of a strike, and they believe that if it starts it will be a long and costly struggle. Consumers of coal, including the Sydney County Council, the electricity authority, are already exploring the possibilities of importing New Zealand coal.