THE HIKURANGI STRIKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18760, 14 July 1924, Page 4

THE HIKURANGI STRIKE.

ATTITUDE OF MINERS' UNION.

"GO SLOW " DENIED.

Writing on behalf oi the Hikurangi Miners' Union, Mr. Alex Wood gives tho following statement of the miners' side of the dispute: —

In recent issues of the Herald, statements have appeared relative to the dispute at Wilsons Collieries, Hikurangi, which, to say the least, are very misleading, and certainly show a lack of knowledge of at least the other side of the question. Let me say at the outset that, the new agreement is not satisfactory, and' I as a representative of« the men at the recent conference in Auckland made myself clear on that point, but the employers, having definitely stated that they had reached the limit and were not disposed to go any further„ we agreed to recommend that it be given a trial, which we did. Now things might have gone fairly smoothly but we found that as soon as we had ratified the new agreement, the management decided to change the system of working, which up to this point had been -in operation in this mine. Instead of the places being worked 7ft. wide they were opened out to 9ft., and as this meant a reduction of 9d in the tonnage -..'ate, it immediately caused a lot of dissatisfaction; the men felt that they had been tricked. We, the representatives of the men at the conference, would never have allowed this to go unchallenged if we had' thought for one instant that the method of work was going to be changed, this same system having been tried in this district several times and proved to be a failure from the coal company's standpoint. In reference to suggestions that we were "going slow" prior to the new agreement, I wish to give that an emphatic denial, as I did in conference. The Hikurangi liliner's Union is quite prepared to back this up with facts. The output per man for several pays previous to the agreement coming into- operation will compare favourably with the output since, when we take into consideration the fact'that many of the places in the mine have been opened out to over 9ft. wide, thereby enabling the men to slightly increase their output. Coining to the immediate cause of the dispute, the dismissal of one of our members and the reason for his dismissal, it is quite time that the member in question had been unable to earn the minimum rate of wages, and in accordance with the award had to be made up to that rate, but the appearing in the Herald previously did not give all the facts in connection with the case under review. Now what are the facts in connection with this case? Briefly, they are as follows. The section of the mine where the individual in question was working is a new ono. and the seam of coal there is. admittedly much [harder than, any other part of the mine, with the result that nor.e of the men, employed there in the getting of coal on schedule rates were able to earn the minimum rate of wages, and as a result had to be made up to a sum equivalent to the minimum rate. Moreover, under the new agreement 50 per cent, of the men employed ifi this same section are still ur.able to earn wages, although the tonnage rate ha,s been increased by lOjd per ton, and as a matter of fact there are individuals, who have had to be made up to the minimum rate to the extent of 50 per cent. These are facts which wa are prepared l to prove. Why then has this particular individual been picked out? Is it because he is a prominent member of the union 1 It not, then why were all the rest of the men who were in the same category as this particular man not dismissed also ?

It seems rather strange that although the men employed by the Hikurangi Coal Cqmpany are in the same union and the same executive controls the affairs of the men working in both mines, we find that four-fifths of our grievances arise at Wilsons Collieries. As a matter of fact we have very little trouble with the management at Hikurar.gi mine. They are loyally, both in spirit and letter,' giving effect to the new agreement which cannot be said of the management at Wilsons Collieries. "

In our agreement is a clause for dealing with just such a question as has given rise to the present trouble, which reads as follows:

If any worker is from any cause unable to earn the minimum wages provided for by this award for any class of work for which lie may desire to be employed, such ■ worker may be employed at such lesser wage as may be agreed upon in writing between the union and the manager of the mine. The term worker shall mean either a mail or youth, as may be applicable."

This rule was never given effect to. The management simply took the law into its own hand, which goe3 tit prove that *» ments are but scraps of paper so. (r at least as some coal companies are concerned. In conclusion, let me say that we can never agree to the undisputed right claimed by the owners to dismiss any man when they see fit. Just try and imagine what this may mean to the worker who has invested his life savings in a home. He surely has a right- to some consideration in the npyitex.