IDLE HIKURANGI MINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20967, 2 September 1931, Page 10

IDLE HIKURANGI MINES.

NO HOPEFUL SIGN. men and commissioner. LONG CONFERENCE HELD. WATER IN WILSONS' COLLIERIES. [from our. own correspondent.] WHANGAREI, Tuesday. The position regarding the strike at the Hikurangi Coal Company's mine at Hikurangi is unchanged. The conciliation commissioner, Mr. P. Hally, held a long conference this evening with the executive of the Miners' Union, but the secretary of the union stated later that there had been no further developments. The usual meeting of the executive will be held to-morrow morning, while it is probable that the mine manager, Mr. J. Makinson, will meet the commissioner. He stated this evening that, although he had received no official intimation from Mr. Hally, he assumed that ho would bo required to confer with him to-morrow. Mr. Hally is staying to-night at Hikurangi. It is not known whether ho will hold a further conference with the men. The manager said the position at the mine was the same as on the previous day. The safety men were still at work. The water is rising steadily in Wilsons* mine but has not yet reached the No. 6 level, which comprises the main portion of the workings. Some miners in Hikurangi are showing concern over the position, and have expressed the conclusion that there is little likelihood of Wilson's mine ever being reopened. PUMPS TO BE WITHDRAWN. AN IMPORTANT DECISION. HIKURANGI COMPANY'S ACTION. " If the mine is not manned to-morrow the company has decided to withdraw the pumps, and that will mean the end of the industry in Hikurangi," said an official of the Hikurangi Coal Company yesterday. He added that no advice had been received from the men yesterday, although the company had asked on Monday that sufficient coal should be supplied for the boilers. COMPANY'S REPLY TO MEN. WILSONS' MINE CONDITIONS.

BREACH OF AGREEMENT DENIED. A denial that the company had ever been arbitrary in its interpretation of the minimum wage clause was made yesterday by Mr. S. Reid, general manager of Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement, Limited, in replying to a statement by Mr. A. Wood, member of the National Council of the Mineworkers' Union. Mr. Reid said the company had made up an average of £SO a month for the last 16 months, although the mine manager had reported from time to time that some of the men could quite easily have earned the minimum. '-'The company did not do anything contrary to the agreement, nor could it ask for the disputes committee to bo set up, for until it refused to make up the pay there was no dispute," continued Mr. Reid. "Before striking, the men certainly could have invoked the disputes committee, but the union officially stated that the matter was not one for the disputes committee. The company offered through its mine manager to place the money in the hands of an independent party, and the union could sue for it. The miners would not agree to this, as the union stated it had no confidence in recourso to law. "As to the excessive costs of production, the company has never claimed that the miners are wholly responsible. It does say that the tactics of tho men have contributed, together with harder coal, fireclay, longer haulages and the flooding of the adjacent mine on more than one occasion. That inefficient management and lack of proper supervision is a fruitful cause of the high costs is quite contrary to fact. The mine is controlled by an expert and able mino manager, whose methods have been highly commended by the many outside experts who ' have visited tho mine. In addition the mine is regularly visited by the managing director, Mr. R. E. Williams, and by other directors and head office officials. "As to lack of boxes, or skips, an ample supply has always been provided to handle a far greater tonnage than has been produced in the mine, and on many occasions greator tonnages than have recently been hewn have been handled quite easily. There have been occasions, however, when all the skips in New Zealand would have been insufficient, as the truckers would not supply them to the men in the face. "It is true the union has sometimes made suggestions for putting the mine in a paying position. These suggestions invariably called for something only on tho part of tho company. Those made by Mr. Wood at the conference between the union and the company last Thursday would have cost tens of thousands of pounds, and any possible saving in production costs would be more than absorbed by the interest on tho capital outlay involved. \ "Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement, Limited, in placing an order for 500 tons of coal a week with the Hikurangi Coal Company, Limited, was actuated solely by the desire to help the latter company and to minimise the distress in the township and district caused by the union's action."