STRIKE CONTINUES

Southland Times, Issue 19501, 16 March 1925, Page 8

STRIKE CONTINUES

STATE MINERS STILL IDLE CHE CO-OPERATIVE CONTRACTS HOW THEY WORK. (Special to the Times). WELLINGTON, March 14. The Mines Deoartment has been advised that the whole ot the men are working the top section at the James Colliery’, on a cooperative basis and that a party of seven are working at the Binn’s section, of the Liverpool Colliery. The No. 3 Section at the extended mine of Liverpool Colliery is idle. However, many offers have been received by the Department from men who are willing to take the place of the strikers at the State Mines. Objection has been raised to the co-opera-tive system which has been put into operation at the State mines on the ground that it is nothing more than a group contract for labour. Inquiries were made on this point by a reporter who was informed that the actual position was that every member of a co-operative party signed a contract to extract coal at the No. 3 extended, and the Binn’s Section, with the right to continue until the mines were worked out. Each party to the contract had the right to terminate it by notice. The contract was for the cutting and delivery of the coal to the department, which arranged for its disposal but there was no such thing as calling tenders for the working of a particular Section, nor were the leaders of the parties allowed to employ men on day wages. MINE DEPARTMENTS OFFER. Under the contracts arranged, the parties were paid so much per ton for the coal delivered at the bins, the prices being slightly more than was the cost of the Department under the old industrial agreement. Complaint has been raised by objection to the co-operative principle, that the men have no voice in the selling of the coal. Had the State Miners’ Union agreed to work the State Collieries on a co-operative basis however, the Mines Department undertook to set up a Board of Control consisting of representatives of the miners, officers of the Department and the Minister as Chairman. At the time that undertaking was given, the Union was invited to appoint a representative to go through the whole of the Department’s selling organisation and examine the books so that the Union might understand the difficulties that had to be faced, in disposing of coal; this the Department is still prepared to do, although it is somewhat premature to carry out the idea, with only three small sections working. UNION’S UNREASONABLE DEMANDS. Writing to the Grey River Argus, a memoer of one of the co-operative parties, asks whether the State Miners’ Union could raise the trucker and shiftman from 16/7d and 17s 9d, to 29/3d per shift. That was the wage every man or boy in his party drew in the Binn’s mine last pay day. Therefore he failed to see why the Union should force these men back to the old conditions, as they were always preaching higher wages for the workers. The Union men could have the some conditions if they wished. He stated that all the co-opera-tive men were staunch Unionists, but the miners placed themselves in an impossible position by the unreasonableness of their demands, that the Government should cancel forthwith all contracts which existed with the co-operative parties. Everything was run strictly under the co-operative principle, to the effect that all shared alike. The Minister of Lands (The Hon. A. D. McLeod), in his speech at Geraldine on Thursday, referring to the coal industry of this country, said that New’ Zealand should be a large exporter of coal, instead of a large importer o fthis commodity and it would be, but for the action of the Labour Union ‘’Bosses” who ’‘white anted” this and other industries, and who would ultimately endeavour to “white ant” the primary industries if they were not stopped. The Under-Secretary of Mines (Mr A. H. Kimbell), will leave for the West Coast on Monday night to meet the State miners Union Executive.