Some N.S.W. Miners Jib at Work-Discipline Urged

Grey River Argus, 19 August 1949, Page 3

Some N.S.W. Miners Jib at WorkDiscipline Urged

SYDNEY, Aug. 18. Canberra correspondents say that Federal Ministers are watching the miners’ behavious closely for sign of a deliberate plan to defeat the Government aim of establishing adequate Australian Labour Party observers on the coalfields believe that Communists are running sporadic strikes to keep production down. They say that the Communists are behind the present disputes concerning miners’ household coal. . Normally. the miners receive about 8000 tons of coal monthly. The secretary of the Combined Colliery Proprietors’ Association, Mr .R. W. Davis, said that a code of discipline rigidly enforced, would be necessary if the coal industry were to overtake the nroduction losses cause the strike He added that, though the miners had been back at work three days, 8,400 tons of coal had been lost during that period by avoidable and utterly unnecessary strikes. Three mines went on strike yesterday on the purely selfish issue of whethe* or not the miners would receive their customary free ton of coal each week before others were served. The colliery proprietors, recognising the urgent needs of the community for coal, recommended that mine employees should not receive household coal for a month after the resumpt(Rec° 9.10 / " SYDNEY, Aug 18. For the second successive day the miners at one Western District colliery refused work to-day, alleging this time, that the temperature Oi the water in the bath and the changing house was not adequate. , Six mines were idle to-day. The coal losses were not high. Moderate mine officials are pressing for action under the disciplinary code which exists on the Northern field.

£50,000 Union Funds Paid Into Court To Release Officials (Rec. 1.55) SYDNEY, Aug. 18 The Miners’ Unions, the Ironworkers’ Union and the Watersiders’ Union to-day paid the Sydney Registrar of the Arbitration Court fifty thousand pounds which they had withdrawn from the banks during the coal strike. The Mners’ Federation still has to refund £4200 which was withdrawn by its southern district. Applications for the release of eight union officials who were gaoled for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of the money will be heard before the full Arbitration Court in Sydney next Tuesday. The money will remain in the custody of the court before being returned to the union funds. The fines imposed on the unions and on four other officials of the Miners’ Federation have not yet been paid.