Strongman Coal Output Drops: Law Enforcement?

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 August 1948, Page 5

Strongman Coal Output Drops: Law Enforcement?

A sharp decrease in the output of the Strongman State mine at Nine Mile followed a tightening-up this week in the application of certain sections of the coal mining regulations dealing with shot-firing, and, though no official information is available, it appears that unless some action is taken to exempt the Strongman mine from the full application of the regulation, the production will be permanently reduced. Already, it is reported, colliers loading at Greymouth, have had to interrupt loading i operations while waiting to obtain their full quota of Strongman coal. The regulation which the Inspector of Mines office has decided to enforce strictly in all district coal mines calls for the replacement of “grunching”—a method of bringing down coal from the face by discharging explosives placed in holes drilled in various parts of the face—by a method which calls tor vertical and horizontal cuts to be made at one side and below the area to be brought down by the shot. This extra work, which, apparently, had not always been carried out in the past, has slightly cut the output of other district mines, but at Strongman production dropped to hall —190 tons, earlier this week. ' Though it has gradually increased since, it is still considerably below normal. Though it was suggested in some quarters that the miners at Strongman had adopted a darg, oi goslow, as an indication of resentment at the action of l the inspectors ol mines it is believed that the real reason lor the smaller output is the exceptional hardness of the coal produced at the Strongman pit. Whereas the making of the extra cuts represents only a little extra work m other district mines, at Strongman mine the hardness of the coal makes the picking a difficult and long task with a resultant loss of coal-hewing hours. . ' One of the purposes oi the regulation is to allow the coal to be gently forced out from the face, thus reducing dust. The “grunching” method brings down large pieces of the face , with some force. Mines Department officials, when questioned today, would give no information concerning the reasons for the production drop at Strongman mine, but it is understood that the matter has been referred to the head office, Wellington, and also to the Crown Law Office. There is provision in the Coal Mines Act for a problem, such as that which has occurred at Strongman mine, to be re- ' ferrod to arbitration, and for certain , mines to be exempted from the provisions of certain regulations, and it is expected that action along these lines will be taken. Drop In Earnings The most important aspect of the enforcement of the regulation, as far as the mine workers are concerned, is that it will considerably cut wages, most instances to the minimum rates, i By working as hard or harder than iin the past when the “grunching i method was used, the coal-heweis, working on the contract system, will be hard put to it to produce sufficient coal to earn more than the minimum wage, while the earnings of the truck - ers'and rope-roa'd workers which are

also based on the output, will also be severely cut. From a public point of view, however, the removal of,any incentive to produce extra coal is of importance. Likely to earn only the minimum pay, or little above it, no matter how hard they work or how much coal they can produce, few of the workers are likely to extend themselves, and already this has been noted, in some cases, as being partly responsible for the fall in production figures.