AUSTRALIAN PLANS FOR MORE COAL FROM OPEN CUTS

Grey River Argus, 20 August 1949, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN PLANS FOR MORE COAL FROM OPEN CUTS

136.000 Workers Re-employed in Week (Rec. 105) SYDNEY, Aug. 19 It is believed that steel supplies will be flown from the Broken Hill Proprietary steel works to Sydney on a production basis equal to that before the strike within one week. The employers expect that the metal trades in the metropolitan area will be back to normal within a short while. About sixteen thousand employees returned to work to-day, making 136 thousand re-employed this week.

On Monday the Joint Coal Board will begin a move to increase the New South Wales coal production by nearly 1,500,000 tons a year. The Board proposes to increase the number of men now employed in open-cuts from SOO to 1200. Additional men will be recruited in centres where mines are located. The men will work three shifts daily and night work wil Ibe carried out with the aid of searchlights. The miners will work round-the-clock shifts on a five-day week basis in sixteen New South Wales opencut mines with a view to doubling the pre-strike open-cut production of 30,000 tons weekly. This would increase the New South Wales coal production to 310,000 tons weekly if al Imines worked to ful Icapacity. The Coal Board recently estimated that the minimum requirements of industry dependent on New South Wales coal were 288,000 tons weekly. The number of idD workers m New South Wales to-dav has shrunk to 125,000 from the strike peak of 431,000. About 25,000 metal workers and 15,000 textile operatives resumed work yesterday. Using their pre-strike quotas of electric power for the first time , in eight weeks, many large metal manufacturers yesterday reached almost normal production. Many more people are now being employed. Of the 140,351 persons who applied for unemployment benefits during the strike, nearly 79,000 have notified the Social Security Department that they have returned to work. The Lord Mayor’s Fund will close toFull lighting is now being used and all city lifts are working. An early sign of the return to normal was the phenomenal sale of milk as milk shake machines .in the city and suburbs went back into action. The emergency electricity commissioner, Mr H. G. Conde, said Sydney people should not be over-optimistic because there were no black-outs yesterday. He added that much of industry had yet to resume and that yesterday was a mild day. Mr Conde warned the people to observe the regulations and use power with restraint, as a rising power demand could cause recurring blackouts. Miners Object to Work With Communist SYDNEY, A"ig. 19 The Northern Miners’ Board of Management has ruled that the refusal of the miners at Preston extended colliery to work with a man because he is a Communist, was entirely wrong. The wheelers in the colliery nave refused to work with a man whom they allege was a prominent Communist supporter during the strike. In support of theip decision the wheelers have tendered their resignations, claiming that because oi their stand the union threatened fines and expulsion. Meanwhile petty stoppages in underground mines continue to occur. The Northern Board of management of the Federation ruled out of order a notice of motion seeking to ban Communists from office in the federation. A motion demanding the discontinuance of the fed-

eration’s official newspaper, Common Cause, which annoyed many moderates because of its militant attitude during the strike, was referred to the central council.