MINER V. UNION

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 May 1930, Page 3

MINER V. UNION

ALLEGED CONSPIRACY.

NON-PAYMENT OF LEVY.

Alleging that they are guilty of a conspiracy to deprive him of his employment as a coal miner until he pays what he describes as an illegal levy, Thomas Bertright Hancock, of Huntly, is proceeding against the Northern Coal Mine Workers’ Industrial Union of Workers and Ray Richards (executive members), William Hunter (President of the Waikokowai branch of the Union), and Wil'liam Atkins’ (ex-President of the branch). The levy referred to is that in aid of the Australian miners. Plaintiff sets out in his statement of claim that he' was employed up to January 9, 1930, by the Renown Collieries, Ltd., when the Union by or with the active concurrence of the other defendants, who are or were

then officers of the Union, wrongfully and by threats compelled the manager of the Company to dismiss plaintiff and refrain from employing him;

that on or about January 13, 1930, the Union decided to remove the restriction against the employment of plain-

tiff and the Company reinstated him on January 15; that on January 28, the defendants again induced the Company to suspend th© plaintiff and refuse to employ him again until he should comply with the defendant’s illegal demands that plaintiff should pay an illegal levy of ninepence in the pound out of his earnings, for the assistance of the Australian miners on strike; that the Union controls all the unionists in the Auckland province; that there was a conspiracy to deprive him of, employment until he paid the illegal levy; and that, by the wrongful acts of the defendants, plaintiff has been deprived of his employment as a coal miner to the present time, and it is impossible for him to obtain employment, owing to the attitude of the defendants towards him. He therefore claims £lOO damages.

The evidence of the former manager .of the Renown Collieries, Charles Hunter, was taken at the Greymouth Court to-day, as follows; J I am tile manager of the Grey Valley Collieries, Ltd., at Dobson. Previous to coming to Dobson I was manager of the Renown Collieries at Huntly. I left there on January 31 last. On January 9 last, a deputation consisting of Messrs William Atkins, Reece Lewis, William McDicken, Colin Reed, and James Higham waited upon me. They stated that they represented the Waikokowai branch of the Northern Miners’ Union and requested me to dismiss Hancock and his two sons and Maddock from from employment, on the grounds that these four men refused to pay a levy in aid of the Australian miners on strike, and that the other members of the Waikokowai branch of the Union had held a stop-work meeting and hhd resolved not to work with these four men on that account. I refused to with their request, and they urged that the Union would take all responsibility. I asked them if they would sign a written statement to that effect, and they agreed to; on this understanding I put Hancock, His two sons, and Maddock off the next day, January 10. I had to go to Auckland on January 10, but immediately on my return the following day I had a memorandum prepared setting out the undertakings already verbally given by the members of the deputation. This written memorandum I submitted to Lewis and McDicken on January 11, but they refused to sign it. The branch Union held a further stop-work meeting on Monday, January 13, as a result of | my request that a written under-1 taking be given. As a result of this .refusal to sign, I then employed the men again on January 14 until further ' trouble arose. On January 28, another deputation headed by Mr Richards, the President of the District Council of the Northern Coal Miners’ Union, and Jack Walker, the secretary, waited on me and demanded that Hancock, his two sons, and Maddock be suspended until they should pay the levy. This deputation informed me that they ‘represented the District Council of the Union. I refused to take any action unless they gave me a verbal undertaking that tile Union would accept all responsibility for the men being suspended. Under pressure from me, they gave me this undertaking, and the neyt day I laid Hancock, his two sons, and Maddock off. I felt obliged to lay the men off to avoid trouble. I left for Greymouth on January 31, and have had nothing to do with the matter since.”

This evidence will be forwarded to Huntly, where the case will be heard.