STRIKE OF COAL MINERS

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1932, Page 7

STRIKE OF COAL MINERS

‘NOTHING MORE ATTEMPTED’

OPPOSING PARTIES’ VIEWS

INTERVENTION SUGGESTED

“NO COMPROMISE POSSIBLE”

By Telegraph.—Press Association. Greymouth, Last Night.

Leading officials of the mine owners’ organisation and the unions, interviewed to-day, said nothing further had been attempted by either side to bring about a conference. Apparently' the differences would be unbridged unless the Government intervened. The owners insist on the right of engagement and dismissal of employees.

Mr. Purdy to-day refused to (Comment on the Auckland message of yesterday giving a statement by Mr. R. L. Roberts. The miners declare that dismissals when necessary shall be decided by ballot by the miners, and the owners definitely state that no compromise is possible on the right of engagement and dismissal; nor will the deletion of the minimum wage clause be entertained. At a meeting of the Westport Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday evening it was resolved to ask the Prime Minister to do his utmost to bring the parties to the dispute together with a view to a settlement. A suggestion was made that the Government might-- use some of the unemployment funds to subsidise coal production so as to offset the adverse exchange, which has deprived Westport of the overseas bunkering trade it formerly enjoyed.

LABOUR PARTY’S ATTITUDE.

SUPPORT FOR FREE CONFERENCE. Wellington, June 9. . The national executive of the New Zealand Labour Party has issued a statement with regard to the mining dispute. It expresses concern at the attitude of the mine owners in setting down conditions before agreeing to meet the mine workers. “The clear aim is to go to a conference at which every condition associated with the industry of coal mining will be franklydiscussed, and in this they have the full support of the Labour Party,” says the statement.

“The mine owners’ insistence on the enforcement of a material condition affecting employment without a discussion before any conference on the matters that will be considered is contrary to the principle of conciliation and consultation, which should be recognised in modern industry. The claim put forward by the coal owners for undisputed power to dismiss workers is contrary to the spirit and practice of the arbitration system which has prevailed in this country for so many- years, and cruelly infringes the right of the workers to a voice in the organisation of an industry which their labour makes possible. “On this point the miners’ demand for consideration is just and reasonable, and all the more so at a time like the present, when unemployment has become a problem of serious national importance, and in view of the fact that the rationing principle has been recommended to the employers by Mr. J. G. Coates, Minister of Employment. “The Labour Party’s national executive heartily supports the miners’ request for a conference which shall not be hampered by any condition imposed beforehand. It is of the opinion that, failing agreement of the mine owners to a conference with the mine workers, it is the duty of the Government to bring about a conference in the interests of all parties—the mine owners, miners and consuming public. The executive commends to the people of New Zealand the clear and conciliatory statement of the position made by Mr. Purdy, secretary of the West Coast Miners’ Council, published a day or two ago.”