THE BLACKBALL MINE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14682, 13 May 1908, Page 7

THE BLACKBALL MINE.

X THE STRIKE ENDED. .", ■"■s [From Our ConßisroxßENSc.] A GREYMOUTE, May 12. • The Blackball strike collapsedvV.JowC' day, and work at the mine Vill. WlSfe-v sumed on Thursday morning. For, eleven weeks the mine i-ema-iiied id]a ii^j consequence of the dispute,, and during';! that time it is calculated that no', loss': a sum than £7OOO was lost*'in wages, to j say nothing of the great loss and ex-' penso the company has been put to. V Tho terms of settlement are practi- f cally as follows:-—, " (1) Reinstatement of ihe.Bovon difi-; missed men,, and a promise that there'. shall be no victimisation.' s_-X" (2) That thirty minutes shall he tficT time allowed for crib. ". ' jr" It is also stated that there is an un»; deratanding that the eight hours' hank to bank principle will be rigidly adhered to. ' •'•'■■■j*i It transpires that when: the deadl'HiS occurred on Friday, tho Tyncside Com-'.; panv asked tho Blackball Company to! fulfil its orders. This the Blackballj Company agreed to do. , In order ty>j carry out such an undertaking Loitch found it to be necessary to work two shifts. This, of course, meant that; there would also be two shifts of eight hours each for truckore, so that tho only matter in dispute, i.e., that truck* ors should not. work more tlmm tell 1 : hours, was got. over without either t.ido really giving way. \ s "" The news caused much gratification in Groymouth, as with the Tyneside mjjtfc closed down and the strike at Blackball • matters looked none too bright.

THE UNPAID FINE. ORDER AGAINST MEMBERS OF .k; THE UNION. , rO" (Per Press AssoctA'xiox.V ""■"> A UCKLAND, May I? .. i In the Arbitration .Court this aftor-•'! noon, Mr Justice Sim made nu ordof'J against one hundred and blxty-six individual members of the Blackball, Miners' Union, providing 'that' each oik'' tho igereons liamod / in ; the Kohc&uli^

thould forthwith pay to the Inspector of Awards.his proportion of the fine of £75 imposed upon the Union, hut no one of the said members is to be liable for a greater amount than £lO. A copy: or the certificate is to be sent to the Clerk of Awards at Hokitika, to •liable the Inspector of Awards to take action at' law immediately.

■ THE HON J. A. MILLAR'S VIEWS. [Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, May 12. •'< In reference to the Blackball settlement, the Hon J. A. Millar is informed *"that, in consequence of the Tyneside 'mineheing flooded, the Blackball ComI pany had decided to work two shifts. | This at once disposed of the troublesome point of truckers' overtime. The half-hour crib time had already been I conceded. Mr Millar presumes the :; company will be able to employ all the men from Tyneside and the fifty or ' »ixty miners who remained at Blackball till the end of the dispute. Altogether, the strikers numbered one hun--;,dred and fifty-six, but the majority jv'went away from the district. \xf:[ "The strike has shown that the law .'; in regard to aiding and abetting wants ;■ amendment," said the Minister to a :v,-"New Zealand Times" representa-j'-tive.>.■"."Any Union wishing to have ';the right to strike can cancel its regis'tration under the Arbitration Act and 'register under the Trades Union Act, "but by registering under the Arbitration Act. they voluntarily surrender the right to strike. It was clearly the injtention of the Act, when passed, that '•no Union registered under it should de- '; Tote any part of its funds towards the support or its members on strike, therefore, it is a parody on the whole thing : that' while the Union is debarred from io using its funds another Union can •apply funds to maintain the strikers."

';■/ Mr J. Thorn received a telegram last .night stating that the strike had been ffcttled 'on an arrangement thatte satis--1 factory to the workers. ■ ■ Inquiries made at the Blackball CbmVpany's Christchurch office last evening , showed that the officers there had not vjreceivedi any particulars of the arrangement come to. They had merely been informed that the men would resume / .murk to-morrow.