Coal Board Against 35-Hour Week For Australian Miners

Grey River Argus, 5 October 1949, Page 5

Coal Board Against 35-Hour Week For Australian Miners

(Rec. 11.48). SYDNEY, October 4. Th e miners’ claim for a 35 hour week should be rejected in the public interest, as the national economy was at stake, so Mr W. S. Winning, for the Joint Coal Board, told the Coal Industry Tribunal, to-day. He said that the Joint Coal Board (a Government body) believed that the issue went beyond the narrow consideration of industrial conditions, and that it directly affected the living standard of all Australians.

Mr Winning declared that their expanding national economy required a substantial increase in their coal production. Therefore it was not possible to contemplate a reduction in the working hours at present. The existing coal shortage had already reduced the living standards, and it was adversely affecting the national economy.

When the coal production increased, he said, it might be desirable to award the underground miners a 371 hour week, but this would mean an effective working time of only 30 hours. After deducting the crib time and the travelling time, th e effective working week of the underground miners was 321 hours