COAL CRISIS

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 88, 11 March 1930, Page 7

COAL CRISIS

CONFERENCE BREAKS DOWNr OLD RATES DEMANDED. PEACE AS FAR OFF AS EVER. (United Press' Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) SYDNEY, March 10. The breakdown of the coal conference an hour after its commencement to-day leaves peace on the coalfields as far off as ever. The miners’ representatives announced that they were not prepared to accept any terms other than the pre-stoppage conditions. The colliery proprietors expressed their willingness to reopen the mines on the basis of the compromise agreement of November 23, which the miners’ representatives again rejected on the ground that their organisation had given them no mandate therefor. A deadlock was thus reached and the parties dispersed. The conference had been opened by the Premier, Mr T. R. Bavin, who expressed the hope that a settlement would be effected, pointing out that it would make the Government’s task easier from the standpoint of reducing unemployment. The State Cabinet to-morrow will consider whether unemployment relief should be withdrawn from the coalfields in view of the failure of to-day’s conference.

A meeting of miners’ lodge secretaries will be held to-morrow at Newcastle in order to formulate a policy for the future.

The agreement reached in November, but rejected by the miners, provided for a reduction of all contract wages by 12J per cent., also 6d a ton from the wages of day labour employees at the collieries concerned. The owners on their part agreed to submit figures to a committee of employees showing that the reductions mentioned represented 9d a ton on an average over the whole of the collieries concerned. The miners undertook not to restrict the output of coal.