THE HIKURANGI DISPUTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20969, 4 September 1931, Page 11

THE HIKURANGI DISPUTES

MEN REJECT PROPOSALS. CONFERENCE REQUESTED. TELEGRAM TO THE MINISTER. MINERS MEET TO-MORROW. [BT TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WHANGAREI, Thursday. The hopes that the difficulties would be overcome at both the Hikurangi min.es and that work would be resumed were not fulfilled to-day, when the result of the meeting of the Miners' Union was made known. The meeting was largely attended and lasted for two hours and a-half. Two definite proposals were considered by the meeting. The first was that of Mr. P. Hally, conciliation commissioner, who had several conferences with the miners' executive. Mr. Halley suggested a commission should be set up to hear evidence from both sides. This proposal was acceptable to members of the executive, who asked what attitude he would take if the company refused to accept the commission. Mr. Hally replied he would then ask the Government to act. It is stated that certain conditions were later added to Mr. Hally's suggestion. Mr. Holgate's Suggestions. The proposal was submitted to the meeting of miners to-day and rejected by the men. The second proposal was that submitted unofficially by Mr. W. D. Holgate to the union's executive. This proposal was that the men should resume work at the Hikurangi Coal Company's mine and supply coal to Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement, Limited, and that a co-opera-tive party should be formed to produce from Wilsons' Collieries the coal to be supplied to the cement works at the same price as the cement company could obtain it elsewhere. If this proposal were accepted, the directors of Wilsons' Collieries would consider the position. It is understood that Mr. Holgate informed the executive that this was Wilsons' final offer

This proposal was also nob approved by the meeting to-day. The meeting finally decided to send a telegram to the Minister of Mines, the Hon. A. J. Murdoch, asking him to convene a conference of all parties concerned in the dispute. It was also decided to send a copy of the telegram to Messrs. H. M. Rushworth and H. E. Holland, M.P.'s. When the result of the miners' meeting was referred to Mr. Holgate, he remarked that he was very sorry that his proposal had not been accepted. He had done his best to Wing about a settlement of the dispute and the positiob was now very serious. Request to Directors. The matter was further considered at a meeting of the Miners' Union executive this evening, when, the question of resuming work at the Hikurangi Company's mine was discussed. It was decided to defer the question until Saturday, when a general meeting of miners will be held. In the meantime, the executive asked two directors of the company to meet the men at Hikurangi. This decision was conveyed to the mine manager, Mr. J. Makinson, who immediately communicated with the secretary of the company in Auckland by telephone. It is expected that two directors will leave Auckland to-morrow.

The mine manager stated that since the colliery had been re-opened in February, after being idle for six months on account of flooding, the Hikurangi Company had lost £SOOO on its operations, owing to lack of trade. During that period £24,000 had been paid out in wages, while 25,000 tons of coal had been produced. If the mine were to close, it would mean that 1000 people in Hikurangi would lose their livelihood now that Wilsons' Collieries mine was closed, and the town would be wiped out. The total number of miners employed at the two mines was over 300, and £2OOO a week in wages was distributed.

REJOINDER BY MEN. THE COMPANY'S STATEMENT. AVOIDANCE OF DISPUTE. In replying to the statement made on Tuesday by Mr. S. Reid, general manager of Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement, Limited, Mr. A. Wood, member of the National Council of the Mineworkers' Union, says:— "Mr. Reid states that the company has paid an average of £SO a month, for the last 16 months, in making up the men's wages. This in itself clearly demonstrates the necessity for a minimum wage clause in the agreement. It is, to say the least,, peculiar that in the Hikurangi Coal Company's mine there has never been any trouble of this nature, or, as a matter of fact, of - any other nature, although the men employed there are members of the 6ame branch of the union. "I think it must be perfectly clear that, when the manager informed the men that he was not going to pay the minimum, sometime before the pay, and when he found that the men disputed his proposed action, he was the party, according to the agreement, to call the Disputes Commit tee into operation. Had this been done before the men got their pay dockets it is just possible the stoppage could have been avoided.

"It is quite true that the mine workers dislike taking these questions into Court. The burden of taking all our troubles into Court or before a tribunal would be altogether too- much for us, but why did the company not adopt thai advice itself ? As regards the shortage of boxes, complaints have been made to the manager times without number, but very often without result. "Some time ago, on the advice of experts quoted by Mr. Reid, the company was persuaded to put down a bore for the purpose of effectively handling and cheapening the pumping of water from the mine. This is not even effective for the purpose for which it was put down. Before the bore was thought of the Miners' Union advocated that the company should put a shaft down at the extreme end of the workings. This would have immediately provided a pumping outlet superior to any bore. y "In addition, the ventilation would have been improved immeasurably. Further, a shaft could have been used for hoi'sting coal to the surface and would have reduced the present enormous costs in the haulage of coal from the face to thn mine top. It would have meant also that every man in the mine would have been saved half an hour at present occupied in walking to and from his work underground, and would consequently have been able to send out more coal. The cost of putting down the bore advised, by the experts would have gone a long way toward the sinking of * shaft."