What Miners Earn

Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 294, 18 October 1922, Page 6

What Miners Earn

We have often-been assured men on wharves, in mines and at other occupations have been making big money but what are the facts? The best off men are not averaging £5 a week and the majority less than £4, in most of the industries. Take the coal ruinertj, to hurt whom tlte Government imported coal. If a miner hews seven tons of coal per day, his pay works out at 15/6 per day. How many miners, in bad places, qannot possibly hew that quantity? To earn the 30/- per day some miners are said to do, a pair of men would need to hew in a fortnight enough coal to load ;a steamer r'fce the Alexander. A State miner who cu*s say £19 worth of coal in a fortnight ha s over £5/10/- deducted for explosives and, other things, powder alone totalling over four guineas for the two weeks. Its cost to the men has gone up from 15 pence to 21 pence per lb., while the price of the caps has doubled. ,We just qu&te this case as indicative of whiat is going on in all industries. Wages, not prices, are the declining quantity, and yet work is also in that category! The great offensive is that agains ttiie worker's standard of living, which it is desired to lower to such a degree that profits w'll- regain the war-time level. If the workers neglect any opportunity to stem their .tide of adversity, jiiey cannot blame somebody '- else, > for >the consequences.—"Grey River Argus."