THE STRIKE AT WAIHI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17427, 24 March 1920, Page 6

THE STRIKE AT WAIHI.

LONG STRUGGLE POSSIBLE. EXODUS ALREADY BEGUN, EFFECT ON TOWN'S FINANCE. UNION STATES ITS CASE. NEGOTIATIONS WITH OWNERS [BY TELE&EAPH COBSESPOJIBENT.J WATTTT. Tuesday. Apart from the fact that there were a few more men than usual about the streets to-day, and that numbers of miners were to be seen both in the morning and afternoon coming away from the mines with their underground clothes and other belongings, there was nothing to surest that a general strike, involving several hundreds of workers, had started in Waibi.

At the Waihi mine, where the greater part of the strikers were employed, there was considerable activity at the shafts, where, as a result of instructions from the management, the horses employed by the contractors in trucking at the levels below, were raised to the surface, and ammunition and. all other gear belonging to the men were brought out of the mines, preparatory tq^ closing down. The strike continues almost the sole topic of conversation, and many and diverse are the views as to the prospects of a settlement and the probable duration of the dispute.. There, however, appears to be a pretty general consensus of opinion that unless the trouble is brought to an end in the course of a few days there is every likelihood of a prolonged .struggle, and that if this proves to be the case a large number of the men will leave the town. In fact the exodus, though not so far marked, has already commenced. . Several men, mainly single, have teEen their departure, while others are preparing to follow. The men with homes and families show an inclination to remain on in the hope that a settlement may be reached at an early date. They recognise that difficulty would be experienced in other parts of the Dominion ing house accommodation, and that in the absence of accommodation the cost of keeping two homes would prove a heavy tax on their earnings.

Labour Officials' Efforts. In response to representations made to the authorities by the Mayor of Waihi, Mr. D. Donaldson, the officer in charge of the Labour Department, Auckland, Mr.* G. H. Lightfoot, arrived here bv the express train last evening, with the object of conferring with the representatives of the local branch of the Amalgamated Society of .Engineers, in the hope that a solution of, the dispute between that body and the mine-owners might be arrived at in time to avert a spread of the strike. His arrival was, however, too late to permit of anything in this direction being done, as the miners had already decided to join in the strike. He however conferred with the officials of the engineers' society this morning, and subsequently with the mine-owners' representatives and officers of the Miners' Union, and is still using his best endeavours to bring the parties together in the hope of bringing about a termination of the trouble.

Borough Council's Position. To-morrow evening a special meeting of the Waihi Borough Council will beheld to discuss the position as it affects the council and the borough's finances. As a result of the steady decline in the gold output during the past few years, coupled with the heavy burden thrown upon the council by the contribution to the rivers silting scheme, the borough's income now only represents about 50 per cent, of the amount received some nine or ten years ago, and from time to time it has been found necessary to curtail maintenance expenses and reduce the outdoor working staff. Faced now with an almost total loss of revenue, practically afl. of which comes from gold duty, the council will have to consider the question of reducing bands to a hare minimum, if not entirely dispensing with the outdoor Staff. If the latter course is found necessary close upon forty borough labourers will be thrown out of work.

The Case for the Miners. The following official statement has been furnished by the union for publication:— " The union having met the employers in a conference lasting three days which ended in a deadlock, the employers refusing to grant more than a minimum of 12s 3d per day, the dispute wa s then placed in the hands of the Goal Miners' Federation, who approached the Prime Minister. The latter promised to induce the employers to again meet the miners in conference. Following this the secretary of the local union forwarded tfie following letter to Messrs. Banks and Leah, representing the Waihi and Grand Junction companies: — "' I have been instructed by the executive of this union to write to you, asking that the mine owners of Waihi agree to hold a further conference with us and to try and come to some agreement that will be satisfactory to all as there is great dissatisfaction with the terms the men are at present working under. We consider this is the only way of preventing industrial trouble. I trust that you will let the other parties concerned know our wishes and give us an answer at the earliest possible moment.'

Further Conference Refused. The undermentioned letter was received in reply :— In reply to yours of March 11, in which you suggest a further conference between the representatives of the mining companies and of your union whilst always willing to give the representatives of your union an opportunity of discussing any matter in dispute with us, as the parties only recently concluded a three days' conference, at which all matters in dispute were exhaustively considered, and as you did not mention any new points for discussion, we fail to see what good purposes would be served by a further conference. As explained at the recent conference, the very substantial increases in pay and other concessions granted by the employers represented the limit which they felt justified in offering and as regards the matter of overtime rates and other working conditions we think these are matters for an Arbitration Court ruling. In our opinion the parties having failed to agree the proper course is for the union to file a dispute with the Arbitration Court. In the meantime the companies are quite prepared to continue paying the rates offered at the recent conference and generally to abide by the conditions of that offer. We cannot agree with your statement that there is great dissatisfaction with the terms the men are at present working under, but, on the contrary, have reasons -to believe that the majority of the men are well satisfied with the concessions made by the companies at the recent conference. Of course, if there are any new points your union desire to bring forward we shall be pleased to consider them.—Yours faithfully, for the Waihi Gold Mining Company Limited E. G. Banks; for the Grand Junction Company, S. Leah, general manager.

'The position having become unbearable, ' continues the statement, "it was necessary that some course of action should be decided on. After a discussion lasting from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. it was unanimously decided' to cease work until the demands were granted in terms of the following letter— n 'Mr. E. G. "Banks, snperintendent, VVaihi Gold Mining Company; Mr. S Leah general manager, Grand Junction trow Alining Company Dear Sirs, At a

stop-wort meeting of: the members of tie above-mentioned anion, held on March 22, the following resolution" was * carried v— "That the members of the union cease work until the undermentioned are granted in>fall :—Minhnnm -wage • or -all workers, 16s"8d per shift to be .paid for on a six-day week; 44-hour week for ail workers; overtime to* be .paid for at the rate of, time and a-half for the first three hours and : thereafter double tame; all holidays and Sundays to be paid for at the rate of double time; no contractor to be paid less than the minimum wage. In the event of these demands being conceded and the mines reopening oar members refuse* to further handle the inferior quality of gelignite 'now. in use. .Awaiting a reply.—Yours, for the union, F. Campbell (president), A. Parker (secretin receipt of the employers' reply to the first letter from the union, continues the onion's statement, "a stop-work meeting was called at Waihi and Waikino, at which the whole of the members attended, the opinion of members being that there existed a very genuine grievance. rne position in Waihi is that all the unions are standing loyally together, and that no dispute can be settled singly, this being decided upon by a council of unions representing all the unions of this town, lfce unions have decided that unless a speedy settlement is reached arrangements are to be made' to nlace members in work elsewhere. Tie' Miners' Union, being affiliated with the Coal Federation and Alliance of Labour active support will be received from both these organisations, the executive having already pledged themselves to support any action taken by the Waini Union." SUPPORT FOE STRIKERS. FEDERATION'S ATTITUDE. MONETARY AID SUGGESTED. STATEMENT BY MR. ARBUCKLE. [by TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday. It was suggested by the secretary for the Miners' Federation, Mr. J. Arbuckle, in an interview to-day, that the coal miners will take some action in sympathy with the quartz miners now on strike in Waihi,. for the organisation of the Miners' Federation includes all classes of miners: "So"far as the Waihi dispute is concerned," said Mr. Arbuckle, " it is not only the gold miners who are affected, because they are affiliated with the coal miners. It is to be hoped that the Government will not allow the wealthy companies, such as the Waihi, to decline to pay wages which would be 'on.-, a level with those' earned by general labourers on. surface -work. Personally i would favour a course of action -whereby the federation would assist the wives and children of the gold miners to remove to the coal mining areas, where the men would be able to earn money more in keeping with the cost of living."