SHAG POINT COLLIERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18467, 31 January 1922, Page 6

SHAG POINT COLLIERY

TO THE EDITOR. Sie,—ln your issue of Saturday you state the Shag Point Company restarted operations on the previous morning, but that as only a few miners returned to work the company was not yet able to turn Out full supplies of coal. It was expected, however, that a considerably larger number of men would be working within the next few days. To be precise, there were four miners at work on Friday. To get down to the origin of the dispute. When, the court’s award was issued, the union asked the' manager for a conference to discuss several vital clauses in the award, one of these being clause 26: “ The practice of blasting 1 coal out of the solid without preliminary holing and cutting shall not be permitted, and shot-firers shall not fire any charge until a proper amount of holing and cutting has been done.” The custom here in the past, has been to shoot the “cut ” out with gelignite. The bands of stone through the seam and the hardness of the coal make this necessary. The effect of enforcing clause 26 would be that the output would be reduced 75 per cent., ■nd the miners’ earnings would suffer to the same extent over and above the reduction already imposed by the court. In the face of this the manager absolutely refused to grant a conference, but inserted a notice in his office window stating that individual applications for re-employment would te received and considered. The union informed himlthat the men came out in a body and demanded to bo taken back in a body. To this' we received a reply stating that owing to trade conditions the company would not. be able to empjoy the former number of hands. The union then asked for a ballot, which the manager refused. As the result of interviewing men individually and asking them if they would be ready to start when the mine reopened, the manager was successful in getting 26 names. On these men being notified that the mine would be open t)ie following day, a meeting of the union was held, when the whole position was discussed, and it was decided to take a secret ballot to see if the'men, would remain out and demand a ballot, which resulted in a little better than a two to one majority in favour of a ballot Representatives of the union then placed the position before Mr Reid, secretary of the company. Mr Reid . informed them that the company would not grant a ballot, and that it had instructed the manager to choose the oldest and most suitable men. Amongst the 26 whom the manager nas chosen are five recent arrivals in the ooifttry, some of whom are single men, whilst we have old hands here, and,? with families up to eight children; who have never been offered employment. Yet, Sir, we Eave the Minister ,for Mines stating in the House a few days ago, in answer to Mr Holland, that he did ngt believe there was any truth in the statement that miners were being victimised and men from other countries taking their places. But in this instance it is a clear case of victimisation and of men from other countries taking the places of miners who were previously employed. On behalf of the Shag Point Miners* Union, I am, etc., A. DotHrauT, Secretary. Shag Point, January 28. The Rangitikei Advocate is informed on good authority that, in view of the improvement in the butter market, offers of Is 6d per lb for butter-fat have been refused. “Health is better than riches.” —Gill. Sound, robust health and strength depend on care and common sense. Whenever you feel the coming on of a cold or chill, take Baxter’s Lung Preserver. This splendid cough and cold remedy has given relief to countless thousands of New Zealanders for over fifty-five yeara Its rich, wanning goodness penetrates right to tlbe root of the trouble, and brings speedy relief. As a building-up tonic, “Baxter’s” is also famous. Enriches the blood, fortifies weakened constitutions. Large bottle 2s 6d. All chemists and stores.—Advt.