THE PAPAROA STRIKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17038, 20 December 1918, Page 5

THE PAPAROA STRIKE.

MEN OUT FOR EIGHT WEEKS.

There is still a' complete suspension of •work fib the Paparoa Coal mine, near Greymouth. Tho men at this mine have now been out for eight weeks, and the prospects do not point to a resumption of work until the New Year, says a Wellington paper. The troublo originally arose through a difference in the nvmber of men who should work the pillars. Tho mine manager wished to employ one man where the men thought two should be employed, and, in another instance, the men thought one should bo emploved where two were being worked. The whole matter was quite trifling. After that there was argument about /working a back shift. The < men said there was insufficient ventilation, and on experts being called in to settle the point,, it was found that the ventilation was ample for double the men proposed to bo employed. Tho company offered to | submit all points to the Disputes Committee, but as the expert evidence on which the committee must draw its Conclusion had been given, nothing- came of it. The men would not listen to reason. They simply would not resume work. Now tho Labour Department is prosecuting the men for striking. It is understood that the officials of the Federation of Labour have endeavoured to get the men to return to work, but so far without success.