THE BLACKBALL STRIKE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14153, 4 March 1908, Page 2

THE BLACKBALL STRIKE

ANOTHER ABORTIVE CONFERENCE.

BOTH SIDES.DETERMINED.

(From Odb Own. Corbjsfohdent.)

GREYMOUTH, March 3. In the course of a published statement by the strikers a deal of stress was laid on the fact that the management, 'only after great pressure had been brought to bear (this dispute alone nearly causing a strike), agreed to weigh woollen tube on the aerial . tramway, which, it was contended, had lost weight on account of the pervailing fine weathor, with tlie result tbat the miners, although putting- out as inuch 'coal as heretofore, were suffering a reduction in weight of ooal. mined.

The manager (Mr Loioh) now explains that the union, about' January 17, asked for thft weight to be taken. On receipt of this the subject was considered, and it was decided! to wait for an idle day to.' carry out the job. During, the' ensuing fortnight no idle : day occurred, and on February 4 the union again requested thai the weight be taken. Ho replied that euch would be dohe on tho first opportunity. There being no prospect of an idle' day, Mr, Loioh continued, it wad deoided to work some raon 12 hours in order to get the weight;' and this had been done. They would take another weight when the. winter set in, and the tubs; consequent.on the wot weather, would bo heavier. The weight of the tuba had been averaged both through summer and winter, and on this the average weight was. allowed. For the past five or six years th« company had paid the men for from 1000 to 1200 toiis of coal per annum more than rt paid railway weights for, showing conchisively that t.he weight was in favour of the miners. The company's books proved this. Regarding the' union's demand that only eight houre be worked per day, Mr' Leich maintained; .that working ait eighthour shift instead 6f 10 meant a reduction of at least 25,000 tons per annum in the output of coal. The management had constantly preyed them to get more ooal g} 4mine . and the fact', that the ■Blackball Company had to purchase Tyne6ide coal for its own bunkers showed how keen the demand was.

Continuing, he said it was recognised that if tho minora had refused to truck oil would have been dismissed, so to obviate this it was deemed desirable to work eight hpure in future. On Wednesday night tho start was accordingly marked up' for 3' a.m. next day, on \Aich date it wasintended to start _ tho eight hourq' system. When this decision was come to ho found that he had seven more men-than could profitably be employed, and therefore they had to bo dismissed. 'In -tshe past men had left the company s employ at a minute's notice, arid _so! he iiismisaed mch at a minute's notioc. ■ Legal advice supported this, A3 the men, were *on daily wages. While on the question he mentioned that m 1902, when the award was being considered, he suggested that a. clause be inserted providing for 14, days' notice being given by either aide, but this the union would not agree to. After he had dismissed tho men no naturally thought the next move on tho ,T»rt of the. miners would be to interview him and ask for an-mplan,v ,'tion.' It was his"vjnterition to explain, in this direction; The' company wanted the union to tet the truckers work 10 hours per day or the miners truok for two tours themselves. : That meant. that n. minor would hare to truok two hours ionly every eight or nine days, aa there were 85 miners arid only six to eight a day • would be required to truck. .' On Monday ho was ii tery.iowed by Mr. Lomas (Chief Inspector of Factories), to whom he stated the (;ase for the employers. : Negotiations for a'Settlement Wore not advanced. His reasons for refusing tho proposed.ballbt were:-That it would interfere with i his freedom in the employment oj men; that'married men who had • families, and 'who' had established homes at Blackball," would have.to fro to the ballot; that the manager must hove full control; that tho labour must oe kept up to a certain standard; that tho good men would- have to go 'in the .ballot with the poor men; and that it would :be a continual source of annoyance and irritation. • ~ ■ The s.B. Petone took all the availabb Blackball coal,; and completed her cargo with Tyneside, and jailed this.' morning. Tho Blackball Company'e two steamers— Petoije and Pareora—have been ohartsred by tho Tyoeaide Company, and will not therefore be laid up, as was at first feared would b6' the case. MEETING OF "WORKERS. THE POSITION DISCUSSED. , (Per United Press Association.) • s REEITON, March 3. The Westiand Trades and labour Council metA hero this morning, Mr loster, 'of •Dwiniston, being ,in. the ohair.. All the : other unions on the West Coast were fully represented. ' i-. .vr iThe standing orders . were suspended to allow the delegates from Blackball to speak concerning the trouble. Mr Hiokey; a delegate and 6ne of the diemissed men, spoke at some length, detailing the trouble between tho min'eownors and the men. The trouble regarding the' tare of the wooden tubs' was settled. The present trouble was due to crib time being limited to .IS minutes. The union de; cided upon half an hour, and then came the dismissals and . the • strike. . I]ie men had • approached tho managoi' in a very Toasonablo manner. The reasons given for dismissal were inadequate- The ventilation of the'mine was bad. '''.Mr Hickey and others ' complained, to the Hon. ,Mr M'Nab, and had been marked men. i The council heard both Mr Hickey. and Mr Rodgers (secretary of, theMinera' Union at Blackball), and decided that—"After hearing the explanation of the delegates from Blackball, this council is of opinion that, the men woro discharged without' reasonable excuse by tho manager of the Blackball Coal. Company, and were not treated in the manner they might expect, and this counoil' is of ' opinion that the Blackball Miners' Union has been driven by an unfair and mean manner to cease' working until justice is done. Tho members of the union and tho round! strongly urge on the unions ,the' necessity for' immediate moral and,financial support, to the Blackball Union in its struggle." : '

. The Arbitration ■ Court methods ' were freely criticised., Some speakers advocated a reeori to a 'general Strike, but ibis opinion did not find favour. A motion asking the Minister of Labour to direct the Arbitration Court to imme-' diately 'intervene ,was deferred till the Government proposals were received.

THE-BALLOT PBOPOSAL. (Pi* Unitbd Press Assocutiom.) GREYMOUTH, March 3. A conference at_ Blackball last night again proved abortive. Everything Wis arranged except the ballot v proposal, on whioh both' sides expressed themselves determined not to give way. STATEMENT BY A SOCIALIST. ' (E*ROU OUR OyN CORBBSPONDBNT.) ' 'WELLINGTON, Jfopph 3. Mr Robert Hogg, one of the leaders of the movement here, contributes ito this morning's New Zealand Times a le'ngthy letter regardying _ the : Blackball sttike. In the oourse of his statement ho 6a.ys:—"Honesty compels me to admit that the action, of the Blackball miners in coming out on strike has bwn prompted by 'Enlightened'.selfishno6s. They saw certain of ! ihoir .feltows picked out for no apparent reason' and informed by the representatives of the mine owners that their sexvioes were no longer required. No fault had' been found with their work, and no reason whatever was given—just the bald statement: ' 9ervioos ,no, longer, required,' At oiloe, the other miners felt the insecurity :of their position. They knew that though spared to-day their turn might come' to-morrow, arid 6o'in self-preservation they decided to maio common cause-with their fellows; hence the strike."

Ho says' the dismissal of the Blackball men was a case of " victimisation," and continues &e follows:—" What aro the facts? Mr P. H. Hioltej some , time ago had to 'move on' from Westport, where he had been rmtrumental in forming a branoh of tho Ne\v. Zealand Socialist party. Recently he got work in the Blaokball raino, and finding anumber of miners, there likeminded with him Ke set about and formed a branch of the Socialist party there. Branches are also in existence at Greymouth, Dunnol'ie, Brunner, etc. There were. 22 members in the Blackball branch when our organiser (Mr H. M. Fitzgerald) visited it at the beginning of February. At the close of his work ,in the Grey district a week ago aU the branches had greatly increased their membership, the Blackball branch haying increMed to 62. Being of a militant disposition, the offioiala of theeo branches decided that the time was ripe for running a revolutionary Sooialist as a candidate for the constituency at the forthcoming elections. A fortnight ago tW Blaokball branch wrote to the headquarters of the SJooitiist party concerting this matter. I atn informed by one who knows that the sitting tnemhrsr is very much perturbed at the dovelopmaats tirai.ha.vo taken Elawj, and gg-getjang;

to be even with tho ' mischief makers' in his constituency. Following on this comes As information that sevon miners—not only all Socialists, but comprising the entire com: mittee of tho Blackball ■ branoh of tho Socialist party—have been dismissed from tile Blackball mine without cause, and you ede us to believe that. capitalism never makes reprisals. I wish ateo to point out a " «f .tkp .membersi,.of tlje Miners Union, that tKo arbitration award gives the union preference to unionists, andl that these men wero dismissed while nonunionists _were retained in the services'oß. the company, so that if Hie' men have set the act at defianoethey have been misled by toe-bad example of their employers— - tne class that claims the monopoly o£ brains' and are never aweary of proclaiming themselves as the'uphokfers oMalw and order. In asking the management to baDot the meii to be dismissed—if the statement ig eorreot thit tlioironly wiehiirto reduce their staff—the miners are but making the'; same demand that rthe, ironworkers of Wishftw (Scotland) made in their strike,-and unless this dom&nd be granted men will bo victimised juet as often as they give oxpreesion to opinions otyectkmabla J to the powers, that be; Tho preaa may' try to cloud the true, issue in a hurrksarie o£ words, -but .yon are foredoomed to failure, for it is , not in the ingenuity of : man to prove that the action of the Blactball mina management >is other than ono of dastardly] and cowardly victimisation.' -

The Dominion calls attention to the folly, of thoso people wlio havo been aiding and , abetting the lawbreakers and wjfing them to continue their defiance of the law.'lfc , quotes section .15' of tho Arbitration Aob Amendment Act of 1905, wrooh provide# that "any industrial union or industrial ; association or employer or any worker, ■ whether a member -of any such union or not, which or who shall strike or create g,' lockout or . aid or abet ; a strike- or look- ' out or a movement intended to produce a, ■■■• strike or lockout 1 . 1 shall be' guilty of, an offonco, and shall be liaWo to a fine and may be proceeded against in the same t ' • manner as if it or lib were guilty of a,' ' breach of award, provided that the;fyie' shall not exceed £100 for anV such offence . in the case of amnion, association, or em-, ployer, or £10 in the case of ft 1 worker." . The journal adds that tho unions all. over the Dominion have contravened this whole-: some law, and thoy will be wise.to rememf' '■'> ber that the Government may even/muster up courage to bring them to a proper sense. ~, pf the meaning of' stat.ut-cs. * J.' L ■ POSITION BECOMING ACUTE. MINERS'SOLID OPPOSITION. POINTS OF FRICTION. (From Our Owk Correspondent.) . GREYMOUTH,; March 3. ; The outlook at ,Blackball appears wore* than ever, and grave apprehension is I beginning to bo felt, aa to the fottfre. , This morning Mr Lomas interviewed the miners, and said the employers were quite prepared to leave tho question of billot to go to the Arbitration Court. This the miners stolidly opposed, and theoppcaitkm was 60 uncompromising that an abeoJute deadlock was brought about. Regardi'ing the dismissed men, the irtacager offered his word of honour that they wonld not bo victimised, "birt the union demanded that a Written pledgp ba givop. This was refcaed. and the poeition therefore is the same as' - when the conference rose'on Friday." - Meantime the situation is becoming the more complicated, ;the, ohief .items" of disi oussion being -the action of file - jnanage-' .■ ment regarding tho weight of tube, crib time (the warden's deoiaon on which-has ' gone the dismiseal and ■ alleged victimising of. dismissed men; Iwllot. .proposal, and Arhdtration Oourt. As to the last-mentioned; the miners make wt • ' eeoret 'of- 'being The strikers continue to receive 1 messages of sympathy, while the Wostland' | Trads and Labqur Council has asked union* to morally i and financially support the • Blackball men. .

Tho fact that at the annual Trades Con- ' ferenoe a general strike'of miners on the West Coast was Advocated is but eyjdenoa i i of the temper,of the men, on the situation. There is no gainsaying that the position is : : reaching a critical point, and is) occasion-. ing . throughout the West Coast grayeßt, concern. ...... It is stated unofficially that tho Labour Department, having failed in its efforts at > mediation, w»U now ,put .the law into operation..

MISCHIEF-MAKING: AGJTATORS. (Pzr United _ Pkess Association.) : V ..... GREYMOUTH,' March 3. \ ' Matters in 'connection with the etriko at • Blackball were quiet , today, and there is • deadlock. The confetomoo with Mr Lomas and Mr Tcnnent was fruitless and tho nfon are still determined to stand. firm and await results.

Tho manager (Mr Leich) was in town today, and on being interviewed at&ted- .that * the company could do not more.' He, at . manager, did not uee bad language an dia- ■ j misang 'the men, but quite the reverse. ~ He felt, sure that if Fitzgerald and, one or .. two other agitators were out of Blackball . the men would listen to reason, As it .was • at present, the agitators were causing great': ■ discontent. . ' • , ■ \ The township of Blackball is ; quiet, and i nc rowdyism js reported. ,' j ' It is rumoured in town to-day that if the strike'is -not settled to-morrow thq ' Government wjII tako immediate, action.