MINERS AND EMPLOYERS

Grey River Argus, 27 December 1920, Page 6

MINERS AND EMPLOYERS

Mr J. Arbucklc, secretary' Miners' Federation, has forwarded the following letter to the Mine Owners:-' — Mr W. Pryor, secretary Coal' Owners' Association, Box 79G, Wellington. Dear Sir,— Re your letter of the 13th inst. in which you state it is an expressed condition of the National Conference and agreement that no further increases shall be granted, or alteration in the bonuses take place In reply, I must state that, while agreement goes and the general conditions attached to it, it is not correct to say that we would not have the right to keep pace with the cost of living increase, while coal owners have had the right to increase the price of coal to the general public, which they have done in a great many, cases. It is p\irc bunkum and may go down with those unions who are prepared, to allow the Judge of an Arbitration Court (wlio receives about as much a month as 'the workers receive a year) to say what their standard of living shall be and in all cases * accept the ' standard set by the employers. . We on the other hand, arc not prepared to accept the decision of the, owners, or the decision of an institution which."; recently gave the workers a taste of its class bias attitude. In regard to your letter of same date in which you call on the Executive of the Federation to take immediate steps to remedy the breach of the National Agreement at Blackball (caused by the miners going slow). If this is the case, then the company have only themselves to blame for their policy of vindictive victimisation of members of that Union. Regarding' the breaking of the Natioanl Agreement,, this has been the policy of the Owners from the moment, the agrpement was signed. In fact, the ink was not dry on the paper be-, fore the agreement was broken by several of the owners, and this last act o| theirs in dismissing Henderson and then trying to justify their action by a cock and bull story that Henderson used abusive language to the deputy cannot be accepted by this organisation, and our advice is, if they wish the conditions at Blackball to return to normal to act towards the union as they wish the union' to do in return.