N.S.W. MINERS' LOCK-OUT

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 31, 1 August 1923, Page 10

N.S.W. MINERS' LOCK-OUT

! A Settlement Readied ' ■.. Cables on Tuesday of last week . stated that division had appeared in \ the ranks of the N.S.W. miners with \ regard to the acceptance of the terms !. agreed on between the Union officers , and the employers. The reason for the divison was not given. The lock-out followed a decision oi the coal barons . to blacklist nearly 100 miners whose . militant agitation ithey considered distasteful, and on this point the miners seem to have i ..gained the victory., TERMS OF RESUMPTION. ■ | ;In a statement dealing with : the agreement to resume work, Mr. A. C. Wjllis, Miners' Secretary, said: — "Work will be resumed at all the collieries on the pre-stop basis as at April last. All of the persons—well over one hundred—whom the employers intimated would not be re-em-ployed will return to their work on the -same conditions as existed prior to the stoppage, with no qualification Whatever so far as they are concerned. All persons'will sign on, this being necessary, the. employers contend, to re-establish the legal relationship of- employer to employee. The employers guarantee the prestop status of all employees. In other words j the question of seniority will be the same as prior to the stop, and arrangements or agreements as to promotion of wheelers or anyone else will remain-as prior" to the stop. The Union undertakes to exercise discipline for the purpose of preventing petty stoppages, in accordance with the resolutions carried, reserving to itself the right to strike at any or all cplleries if it is found that they cannot get their grievances satisfactorily aid justed within a reasonable time." The withdrawal of the bosses' resolve to blacklist the offending miners was clearly indicated in the fol- *■ lowing statement made by Mr. Oakes, the Acting-Prime Minister: — "I am able to assure Mr. Willis that the Northern Colleries Association had stated at their recent conference, over which I presided, that they did not intend to blacklist any of those applying for work, and that I felt . confident he need not be alarmed over any difficulty concerning that phase of the matter." APPEAL FOR FUNDS. ..A week before the above terms were ' accepted the locked-out miners were keenly feeling, the financial strain, and to relieve their necessity the 0.8. U. 'Council at a meeting in Sydney decided to issue the following appeal to all the Australian Unions: —.

"At the recent meeting of the Council of the 0j8.U., held at Sydney, it was unanimously decided that if it were thought .necessary, the whole force of the O.BU. should be placed at the disposal of the coalminers in their fight against the owners. The Council was of opinion that the coal owners had determined to use all possible means to victimise those men who had been foremost in the fight. "The w«ges and conditions won by the coalminers have been dearly bought, and the fight is now to retain those conditions; The rapacity of the coai owners will not be satisfied until at least 80 men have been put out of the industry. This is only the thin edge of the wedge. The trade unionists of Australia cannot afford to allow this to Re done. VICTIMISATION. "The weapon of victimisation has •been used on many occasions by the employers, and it has only been possible to restrain such methods by t_e solidarity of the unionists: The greater portion of industrial troubles can be traced to black lists and victimisation. ; "Where any worker puts up a fight against the employing class he becomes , knoy?n and marked, but usually the Union is able to protect him. Where victimisation is carried out it is always in the insidious form, and hut rarely takes tangible shape. In this instance the coal-owners have Brazenly come into the open and they brutally say: 'These men must go before we will open our mines.' VITAL PRINCIPLE AT STAKE. "The coalminers are putting up a fight for. a principle dear to every umonist—the ' right to organise, the freedom to fight, against the brutal methods of the employers. The Provisional Council of the 0.8.U; now makes a strong appeal to the trade unionists of Australia to help their comrades on the coalfields by making levies and sending along financial as-,

sistahoe in order that victory assured. It is every: unionist's flg-ht, for should the Coal Vekd^.succeed ih eatah—shing the right to victimise the coalnriners other . industries will; he affected by the. same taptice."

COMMUNIST IN-irtuATlONSi

Towards the. end of the lock-out Mr. Willis made the following official reply to a statement appearong in - } the "Workers' Weekly.. (the o_ciar> organ of the Communist Party) that some members of the executive council of the Federation: meditated giving in to the owners' demands:.—-

\. 4 published in the ; 'Communist,' now named the 'Workers' Weekly,' to. the effect that certain members of the executive were considering a proposal to compromise on the question of victimisation, is absolutely without truth or foundation. Such a suggestion has not been entertained for one moment by any executive officer or member of .the delegation that has conducted -the'- negotiations, nor any member of: the council, hence the statement made by the Communist executive is .-a" foul lie, and, in our opinion, .only- circulated for, the purpose of creating dissension amongst ■'■ our members at. & time when absolute unity is essential. MUST DECLARE THEMSELVES. "We recognise that many oi our members who may be Communists are?amongst the best members ol our organisation, and we think it is full time they declared their attitude towards- the disruptive tactics of; the so-called 'Communist Executive of Australia.' '-■•-,■-... • -

"We say without hesitation that the 'Communist,' now known as the the 'Workers' Weekly,' has done more to .create dissension than all the capitalist papers put. together, and we find [it hard to believe that some of tho. persons who 'are now masquerading as Communists are not pimps, tools, and spies io'r -jertain interests diametrically opposed to the best interests of the working class."