ABORTIVE CONFERENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2860, 6 January 1909, Page 25

ABORTIVE CONFERENCE.

MEN DECLINE TO WORK. <Fbov Qck Own Cobbespondxnts.l GREYMOUTH, January 3. The announcement on Saturday that a serious deadlock existed at Reefton created general surprise — not on account of such a decision being hastily arrived at, but as the people here failed to recognise the I gravity of the situation. I The conference consisted of represen-. tatives of the employers, the executive of | the New Zealand Mind's' Federation, and delegates from the Inangahua Miners' Union. '' The employers stated that under seotion 10 of " The 35 T orkm€n'i Cempe^ttea A$t t

1908,." the men were entitled to claim coinpeJneatioir "ior^iininer's complaint ffs" though 'it was an accident. This adided a j great burdeai on them, their total liability being over £1,500,080. Tlf? insurance companies would not accept such a huge risk without a meddcal examination of the : miners, and the employers had agreed to ! insist on this, and accordingly asked the miners' delegates to agree thereto. The opposition, however, was unyielding, the cihief objection being that it was degrading \o ask any body of men to undergo a medical examination before they could get a day's work. They flatly dtxiiiied to submit to it in any shape or form, _-i discussion lasting two hours and ahalf followed, but the conference proved abortive. Following this the executive of the Miners' Federation had a meeting, whereat it was agreed to wire to the Government asking the State Insurance Department to take the risk without a medical examination. Up to 5 p.m. tb-flay the president had got no reply to this request. It was further decided that no work should be performed on* the Monday, the employers at the conference haying stated in reply to. direct questions ' that they would accept the, services of no man unless he could produce a medical certificate. The executive then decided to an emergency meeting of the Inangahua Miners- Union fort that night to endorse this decision. It having been rumoured that a sensational incident would occur at Blackwater when the midnight shift presented itself for work on Sunday, the executive . issued orders that, provided its decision was endorsed by the Inangahua Miners' Union, no man should attend at the mine. Questioned on the matter, Mr Semple (president of the Miners' Federation) stated that their policy was one of peace, but they could not recommend any man to agree to a medical examination. If the Government refused to take the risk the federation would, in all likelihood, instruct Mr P. J. O'Regan to cite the employers before the Arbitration Court for creating a lockout. The chief trouble, he added, was that the employers only desired this proposal as the thin edge of the wedge, having as its object a general examination of all employees. Seeing that a similar situation had arisen in Auckland, he thought that there was concerted ■ action on the part of the employers against the Miners' Federation. From 500 to 600 men j&re directly affected, the cessation of work meaning a lass of £250 daily in wages. Besides this many others are indirectly affected, whilst Reefton itself is solely dependent on the mines. No work simply means that busiiiess in the township would be paralaysed. On being interviewed by a Greymouth Star reporter, Dr Conlon, of Reefton, stated that the burden thrown on the mine-owners by the Legislative of last cession as to miner's complaint was infinitesimal. The disease was a slow, insidious, and essentially chronic one, taking some three to five years to manifest itself, and perhaps a further five to 15 years to incapacitate and cause death. A man might for the initial five years be unconscious of his condition, and yet, according to section 10 (subsection 1) of the new act tlie claimant must show that the disease was contracted within 12 months preceding incapacity or death. This necessarily referred rather to the legal aspect of the question, but he ventured the ' opinion that the proof required would lead to litigation rather than to the benefit of the claimant.