LEVY FOR STRIKERS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1930, Page 5

LEVY FOR STRIKERS

VICTIMISATION ALLEGED. COALMINERS’ UNION SUED. Actions were brought in the Huntly Magistrate’s Court by T. B. Hancock, his two sons, and L .A. Maddock, against the Northern Coal Miners’ Union for alleged victimisation. The plaintiffs were represented by Mr. Fleming, of Auckland, and the defendant union by Mr. O’Regan, of Wellington. Each plaintiff claimed £lOO damages, alleging that the union had procured their . suspension from employment by the Renown Collieries because of their refusal to pay an illegal levy in aid of the Australian miners, then on strike . The first of the four cases was heard at Huntly on May 16, before Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M., when, after hearing counsel, the magistrate gave judgment for the plaintiff, T. B. Hancock, for the full amount of his claim, £lOO, and costs £l9 2s 6d. Plaintiff’s. counsel stated that his client refused to pay the levy because no vote of the men had been taken as required by the union’s rules, and also because the amount levied was in excess of the amount that could be levied under those rules. The union had had advice on the matter, and he alleged it had acted wilfully against light and knowledge. The three further cases were set down for hearing last Friday. Mr. - Caldwell, instructed by Mr. O’Regan, conferred with counsel for the plaintiffs, and as a result judgment was later entered by confession for £lOO and £4 17s costs in each of the three cases.