STATE COAL-MINE TROUBLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 27

STATE COAL-MINE TROUBLE.

STATEMENT BY THE UNION". (FROM Ouß OWIT CoRBESPONDEJfJ.)

GREYMOUTH, April 20. Regarding the recent incident at th* State ooal mine, where two men were dis- ■ charged for the alleged ■ firing; of shots, and who were subsequently taken back by the State, the Miners' Union in tonight's Star publishes the following statement* : —" In the first place the men should not have been discharged or suspended until the matter had been fully, inquired into, which it subsequently was. Had the; inquiry been held before the men's supplies were stopped, it would have been found (and was found) thajt there was no reason to stop the men* amf then • have to restart them again. Th«f committee of the union courted the fullest' inquiry into the case, and did its bestj to get to the bottom of the affair, and the result was that the men in question were innocent. As the management would not prosecute, though begged to do so by the committee, the former was asked to> reinstate the men and compensate them for time lost. The result was that the managements sent word to the committee through .the secretary that the men la question could resume work in the State mine if they should care to do so. There was no caution included in that- intimation. The men in dispute received the' information that they could resume work from the union officials, and as that was the only intimation those men received, no caution was given to them. A caution was only necessary if the men had done wrong, and as they bad done no wrong no caution was needed. If the men had done wrong the committee would not have fought the case as it has done,, as being practical miners they know the danger attending unlicensed firing, and if the committee had thought the men guilty., instead of fighting their case it would have told the "men to get out, as there would be no room for them in a mine where safety lamps are used. The whole question is not settled yet, as the union is now demanding compensation to the men for the time they have lost from the Mines Department, as it is not _ right for the men to pay for any mistakes the management makes."