THE COAL DISPUTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21225, 4 July 1932, Page 8

THE COAL DISPUTE.

The Waikato and Hikurangi miners have rejected the proposed new agreement, and from the evidence available the parties are as far apart as ever. It would appear that the clause giving managers the unrestricted right to engage and dismiss men which delayed the holding of the conference is only one of a number of issues upon which the miners justify their continuation of the strike. The proposed abolition ,of the minimum wage and new conditions in relation to "wet time," timbering allowances and penalties for stone are among the questions upon which they have taken their stand. While it is obvious that in mining as in every other industry costs must be lowered to meet the exigencies of the times, the public, so far, has insufficient information upon which to form a clear judgment of the niceties of the dispute. This is difficult under any circumstances owing to the technicalities of such a matter. What the public does know is that at a time when national interests require that the wheels of industry should run as smoothly as possible, the mines are closed, that the miners are refusing to earn wages and, in one direction or another, are imposing an added pressure upon an impoverished community, that a shortage of coal in the local market is dislocating trade and necessitating the transport of fuel from great distances, at high cost, and that, as usual, the consumer is the third party to the dispute without a voice in it. The circumstances are such that if it is impossible for the owners and miners to come any nearer an agreement, the Government should intervene, and, if necessary, offer the services of a tribunal to negotiate between them. The country cannot afford to allow this trouble to drift. It is a case of all hands to the pumps in the economic sense, and every possible effort should be made to awaken everyone in the coal mining industry to a sense of personal responsibility. Private negotiations do not seem likely to do so.