HOLIDAYS SHORTENED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25734, 4 January 1945, Page 2

HOLIDAYS SHORTENED

*—— NEW SOUTH WALES MINERS e MAJORITY RESUME . WORK SYDNEY, Jan. 2. All except five collieries in New South Wales resumed production to-day in accordance with the directions from the Federal Government and the Miners’ Federation executive shortening the miners’ holidays from 16 to 10 days. About 80 per cent, of the miners reported for work. The coal loss from absenteeism for the first working day of 1945 will be about 13,000 tons. No mine is idle to-day on the garnishee issue, which was a main cause of trouble in the coal industry before the Christmas holidays and threatened the development of a general strike. Seven mines were idle over garnishees on the last working day of 1944. The strikes were authorised by the Miners’ Federation as a protest against the garnisheeing of wages to collect fines imposed for absenteeism. When the Miners’ Federation executive ordered the men to shorten their Christmas holidays from 16 to 10 days it also ordered cancellation of all garnishee strikes.

To-day's acceptance of this decision by the miners affected has raised hopes that future decisions of the miners’ leaders will be obeyed, except perhaps by a small section of irresponsiblcs. who will be disciplined. Both the union officials and the colliery owners’ representatives expressed gratification at tne good response made by the miners to the order to shorten their holidays, especially in view of the short notice given, The secretary of the Miners’ Federation, Mr G. W. Grant, said to-day he hopd that peace on the Australian coalfields would be secured as the result of the work of the promised commission of inquiry into the coal industry. Questions which he proposed to submit to the commission for examination included the guaranteeing of the minimum wage for mine workers for three or four years after the end of <he % war, the imposition of a levy of a few pence a ton on all coal produced in Australia to provide for coalfields towns amenities, such as better housing, modern canteens, hospitals, recreation facilities, the establishment of secondary industries in all mining centres, the introduction of a production quota at each mine in the post-war period, the granting of assistance to enable the continuation of work at mines where high production costs created a competitive disadvantage.