MINING SITUATION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10716, 9 October 1920, Page 7

MINING SITUATION

NO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT WHAT ACTION? MINERS TO DECIDE. “STOPWORK” MEETINGS ON WEDNESDAY. There has been no change in the mining situation regarding the dispute at Pukemiro since yesterday. Iho position is still regarded as serious, •■ytopw-crk” meetings of all affiliated miners’ unions will be held on Wednesday next, when the men will be called upon to decide:— (1) Whether to accept the mineowners’ terms (published yesterday). (2) W’hether the Federation shall finance the Pukemiro Union. (3) Whether the mine shall be dcc.rired "black”? (4) Whether all the unions shall fight the matter out by united action? THE MINERS’ Cf SE “ATTEMPT TO SMASH. FEDERATION.” The following detailed statement was issued to the Press yesterday by Mr J. Arbuckle (secretary of the Miners’ rederation): — “In making this statement to the Press, my wish is to place the full facts before the public in regard to the Pukemiro coal-mine lockout, and m doing so it is necessary for mo to go back to the time 'when the Rotoiraro and Pukemiro unions struck against the travelling conditions and fares charged for travelling from iiiintly' to Pukemiro and Rotowaro, and demanded the same rates and conditions as those granted the Stalte Miners. “MINERS’ CONDITIONS.” “Most people do not understand .the conditions that force the men to travel from Huntly if they wish to work at Pukemiro or Rotowaro. In the case of Rotowaro, there are some 130 men working there and fifteen houses for them to live iu, so that if the mine la to work, the men must live in Huntly, a distance of 6 miles. The tram leaves Huntly at 10 to 7 in the morning, and returns at 5.15 at night, so that the men arc away from home for 11 hours a day. At 'Pukemiro there are a number of houses and shacks which are referred to by the Hoard of Trade as unfit for human habitation; the Board condemns the whole sanitation of the town: notwithstanding this, the whole 'of the houses and shacks are over-crowded, and some sixty men have to travel from Huntly under the same conditions as the men at Rotowaro. When the wants of the men were placed before Mr Alison he agreed that something ought to be done, and stated he would do his best to get the Government to meet the men’s demands; when the position was placed before the Prime Minister he stated that the men had a grievance "but considered it was the companies who should meet the cost. Now the owner in one case admits there is justice in the men’s case. And the Prime Minister admits it,\ but—one thinks the other should stand the cost. The men get the usual justice—-abuse from the owners the Government, and the Press for daring to fight for what both admit they are entitled to. FIGHT BETWEEN THE PARTIES. ‘'When the men abandoned the strike

—the Pukomiro men returned to work on the Monday, hut found the gates locked, and were told that the en-gine-drivers must get out of the Miners’ Union before they would be allowed to start. The union placed the position before the engine-drivers, who left the matter in the hands of the union, and on a ballot being taken it was decided that the men should remain in the union. Now, I must make this dear; the engine-drivers have always been members of the Miners’ Union,' and are provided for in their agreements, and in the preference clause. When this trouble was first started. Mr O’Bflen, the federation executive member for the North Island, went to Pukemiro, and placed the proposal before the manager, and also before the director, Mr Wight, that the mine start at once and that the matter be dealt with by the Disputes Committee as provided for in the National Agreement. This they refused, and therefore - the lock-out continued, and the dispute was sent along to tho federation. I then got into touch with Mr Pryor, and after we had discussed the matter, it was agreed that we . should each get into touch with our people and try and arrange for the men to start work at»once on Thursday morning. These terms were agreed to by the executive of tho Coal Owners’ Federation on Wednesday or Tuesday night, and the secretary of the union was wired to this effect on Wednesday, when it was decided to take a secret ballot on the question._ Owing to tho men being scattered in Huntly and Pukemiro it Was found impossible to get the result before 2 o’clock to-day, but a wire was received from Mi O’Brien stating that there was no doubt as to the result of the ballot, and that they would bo agreeable to accept the terms. This was conveyed to Mr Pryor and the owners’ cxecutive before they came to tho decision to withdraw the terras agreed upon and re-submit the demand that tho Miners’ Union and tho federation should enter into an agreement which they aro not going to do. The matter is now a fight between the federation and the owners, and the owners’ executive have decided to break the National Agreement preference clause and also the disputes clause, and to force a fight. This confirms the statement that I have made a hundred times that- it is an organised attempt on tho owners’ part to. try and smash up the Miners’ Federation by keeping disputes going and refusing to keep to tho National Agreement. It also clearly indicates that although they agreed with me that tho mine should start and tho matter should be settled by tho Disputes Committee, they had no intention of carrying it out, because they refused the offer in the first place, and when they were sure of the men agreeing to it in the second place they withdrew it. “BLEEP THE GATES LOOKED." "I cannot say what will be done- by tha unions in the matter at present. I am wiring each union to hold a stop-work meeting for Wei nesday, when they _ will have received a circular stating tho facts of the case. There are four Questions or four different ways of settling tho dispute: (1) To accept tho owners’ terms; (2) that we finance tho Pukc- , miro union as suggested by tho executive member for the north: (3) to declare the mine ‘black’ and .assist the men away, and let tho owners work ft themselves; and (4). for all unions

to fight the matter out by united action. So far as 1 am concerned I cannot support the first two, and I do not think the unions will do so; the third one, I think, should bo adopted, btv cause the owners have looked the gates against the men and I think they should remain locked in such a manner as to require a greater force than the company has to reopen them, tin the other hand, seeing that tho fight is between the executive of the coalowners and the federation, and the owners are trying to force a fight, perhaps it will be best to let it come first as last, but it will bo for tho unions to decide on Wednesday next. I understand that Mr Hally visited the district in connection with this dispute, and I think the report of his visit should be made known, and that be should state who is _in the wrong—the owners or tho miners.”

THE OWNERS’ REPLY “NATIONAL AGREEMENT NOT BROKEN.” Replying to Mr Arbuckle, Mr _W. Pryor (secretary of the Coal Mineowners’ Association) yesterday made the following statement: — “Comments in tho Press have recently deprecated the introduction of technical issues In connection with industrial disputes, and, similarly, I think that in this matter all extraneous questions should be omitted from the discussion. For instance, the otspufes regarding railway rates_ or housing accommodation have nothing whatever to do with the present enginedrivers’ dispute at Pukemiro. as that is a matter entirely anart from the other two questions. The actual position is that during the strike, iu connection with tho railway fares, the engine-dtrivers left their employment in suite of the definite statement made hv Mr Arbuckle himself at the National Conference in February last, to the effect that in the case of a dispute the Miners’ Union never called ant the pumping men. At Pukemiro these men were evidently called out, and the company, looking upon that as a distinct breach of the agreement and a menace to the safety of the mine, demanded that before operations were again resumed the enaine-drivers should withdraw from the Miners’ Union. so as to remove them from that hodv’s control.” ENGINE-DRIVERS AND PUMPING OPERATIONS. “This led to negotiations first, between the Pukemiro Union and the companyj and as no agreement seemed possible in that way the matter was referred by the company to my association on Saturday last, although on the day previous I had received a letter from Mr Arbuckle asking what the attitude of my executive was with regard to the matter. This led to some discussion, between Mr Arbuckle and myself, with the result that I made the proposal on Saturday last suggesting that an. undertaking should be given in writing that engine-drivers,_ in the event of a stoppage in the mines, would not refuse to perform any work in coninectiou with pumping operations or ventilation* of the mine. On Tuesday last T received a telephone communication from Mr Arbuckle suggesting’ that the dispute should be referred to the National Disputes Committee, and on behalf of tho association agreed that the committee should meet on Thursday, 7th inst., with the condition precedent that work should be resumed in. the mines on the morning of that) daybefore the committee met. . I immediately communicated with the members of my executive, ascertained they coiild meet on Thursday, and confirmed that arrangement with Mr Arbuckle on Wednesday morning when he told me he had communicated with Pukemiro on the previous day (Tuesday). I think, therefore, that Mr Arbuckle’s statement that he wired on Wednesday is a mistake, and that if he refers to his file, he will find he telegraphed on Tuesday, as he informed me on Wednesday morning he had done. ‘The result, therefore, is that while we both had the same time to make our arrangements, the members of my executive met in Wellington in accordance with the arrangement made, while the Pukemiro Union failed even to call their meeting until the morning of the day that work was to be resumed and the Disputes Committee was to meet in Wellington, PROPOSAL “FAIR AND REASONABLE.”

“The coal-mine owners submit that they have not broken. the national agreement either in spirit or in letter. The preference clause so far as engine-drivers are concerned was agreed to on the understanding at tho national conference that these _ men would not leave their work during a time of disturbance in tho mine. The engine-drivers at Pukemiro did leave their work and endangered the safety of tho mine, which led to the demand on the part of tho company that they should withdraw from the union. In order, however, to meet the federation statement that to insist upon this withdrawal would mean that the en-gine-drivers would have no union to protect their interests, my proposal on Saturday provided that they might still remain members of the Pukemiro Miners’ Union if that union gave an undertaking in writing that in future disputes the necessary work in connection with pumping operations and tho ventilation of the mine would ho car. ried on as might bo required. It is submitted that the proposal is a fair and reasonable one, and should be agreed to without hesitation. If it is agreed to there is no need for any continuation of the stoppage in r the mine, as if notice is given on any day that tho workers are prepared to resume operations under the conditions imposed tho mine will bo ready to work on tho following morning.”

STILL IDLE PUKEAIIRO BALLOT INTERRUPTED. THE COAL-OWNERS’ DECISION. nr*. vi,« association. AUCKLAND, October 8. The Pukomiro mine was again idle to-day. Tho union was engaged in completing a ballot on tho question, of whether the men should resume work when word came that tho Coal-Owners’ Association had withdrawn the latest offer. ■ This was followed by an instruction from the Alinore’ Federation cancelling the previous instructions regarding tho holding of a ballot and advising the union that the matter had now been referred to tho whole of the coal mining unions of the Dominion. Tho ballot was therefore npt completed. The general opinion in Huntly to-day was that but for the sudden decision of the coal-owners tho ballot would have resulted in favour of the men resuming operations.