GOAL MINES DISPUTE

Otago Witness, Issue 3414, 20 August 1919, Page 29

GOAL MINES DISPUTE

CONFERENCE ENDED. NO SETTLEMENT REACHED. WELLINGTON, August 12. The conference which has been sitting- for a. fortnight on the coal minexs' dispute ended to-day without making a settlement. On Saturday the coal owners made an offer to the Miners' Federation representatives of 10 per cent, increase to the contract workers, who are chiefly miners working on coal at the face, and 15 per cent, to the shift wages men, the percentages to be on pre-war rates, and payable as an increased bonus. To this offer the federation replied yesterday with a set of counter-proposals. In these they asked for the same wages for all mine workers other than face msn, aa they had asked in the first instance. For face workers and other workers not specified they asked for an increase of 25 per cent, in rate 3, the same to be permanent additions to wages, and not payable by way of bonus. The coal owners replied to-day that they could not increase the first offer. An appeal-.-was made by the Hon. Mr Alison on behalf of the coal owners to tin- federation to recommend the unions to accept the offer and to remain at work, in view of the very serious position of the country through the lack of coal at present. The federation representatives withdrew to consider the matter, but on their return thsy informed the owners that they could not recommend the unions' to accept. They then left the room, and the conference ended NO PROSPECT OF SETTLEMENT. STATEMENT BY MINERS' SECRETARY. WELLINGTON, August 13. The secretary of the Minersf Federation (Mr J. Arbuckl-8) said to-day that, so far as his organisation was'concerned, there was no prospect of a settlement- of the dispute with the mine owners. Certainly, he said, there would be no settlement on the basis proposed by the employers, for the condi-.-tions of the offer were such as to make their acceptance impossible from the point of view of the miners. THE OWNERS' POINT OF VIEW. (Feom Ouh Own Coebe3pon33nt.) WELLINGTON, August 13. The demands of the miners, as revealed hi the proposals they made' to the conference recently held between representatives of the Miners' Federation and the mineowners are so much in,advance of the most that employers think of offering that there is not much hope of any settlement between the two parties. The owners offered an ircrease which they considered large, in thrt hope of making an agreement which would stabilise. the industry for some little time. They asked for ap agreement for three years. The most important of the other proposals made by them was in regard to the employment of new miners in mines. At present the arrangement is that men engaged in trucking get first turn to go on the face as opportunity offers, so that a new man entering a mine, even though he may be a skilled miner of experience, cannot get employment except as a trucker, and he must go on working as a trucker until his turn comes to go on the coal. At the Pukemiro colliery, which is a new pit, a clause was inserted in the agreement making provision by which new miners could be engaged. At th-3 time the agreement was made the pit was not fully developed, and more men would have to be taken on from time to time. That clause makes it possible for truckers to go to the face to work coal in their turn, but it makes it possible also for new miners to go on. A limited number of truckers are selected for work as miners periodically, and the selection is by ballot, but new miners can be engaged at any time at the discretion of the manager. The employers asked for the inclusion .of the Pukemiro clause in the agreement. They point out that it is urgently necessary that more men shall be employed in the mines, but under present conditions this is impossible, fa: experienced men will not take work for

a probationary period as truckers, li Is hoped by the employers that they may yet bo able to get some miners from Australia. The minera asked for all the rates of pay that had been set out in their orginal proposals, dropping only the six clauses whioh the employers intimated at the outset that they would not concede.- The wage specified for truckers was 17s 6d a day, and truckers are mostly youths; the wages for shiftmen was to be 18s 5d a day, and if a miner was taken off tonnage work to go on shift wages he was to be paid 20s a shift. There is provision also for a minimum wage to contract workers of 18s a shift. This wage was asked for men who might find it impossible to earn" this amount at the Contract rates being paid in the part of the mine in winch they were employed. This was the scheme adopted in the Taupiri mine some years ago. At first the amount of ' make-up" pay was small, but it increased from year to year until in the end owners of the mine had to fight very hard to get rid of the clause in the agreement. A year ago a failure to reach an agreement would have been followed soon by a strike, but a strike is not expected on this occasion at ones. The trouble would settle itself most quickly if there were a general " down tools " call in all mines. MEETING OF ALLIANCE OF LABOUR. WELLINGTON, August 14. The executive of the National Alliance of Labour, formerly the Transport Workers' Federation, met to-day to discuss the mining deadlock. No official statement has been made, but it is understood that an effort will be made to place the position before the Prime Minister at an early date. It is reported here that work is proceeding in all the mines as in normal times.