TROUBLE AT COAL MINE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18637, 5 August 1930, Page 8

TROUBLE AT COAL MINE.

“GO-SLOW” ALLEGED. By Telegraph—Press Association. INVERCARGILL, August 4. As the result of the dismissal of seventeen men at the Wairaki Coal Company's mine, the remaining twenty miners, it is stated, decided to down tools in a sympathy strike. According to a statement issued bv the manager, Mr J. T. Mosley, the men held a stop work meeting on July 21st, and the management had good reason to believe that they passed a resolution limiting their output to eight boxes, per man per day in solid work, and ten in pillars and tops. Mr Mosley proceeds:—“On Friday. July 25th, notice was posted dispensing with the services of all men engaged on or subsequently to May 13th, 1929, as from August 2nd, and cancelling all prospecting work. On Monday, July 28th, auother stopwork meeting was held, and I accompanied the managing director, who addressed a meeting, explaining the financial position of the Company, and referring to the impossibility of carrying on with rapidly rising costs and decreasing output. We then retired. and left the men to themselves. Some time later the Union secretary, accompanied by two workmen’s delegates, met the managing director and myself on the question of restoring the back shift, prospecting work, and sharing the work with temporary men. We refused the first two conditions. On the third question, we gave them to understand that, providing they resumed normal output, we were willing to either allow temporary men to share the work or dispense with them as the regular hands decided. After lunch the same delegation met me in the office, and informed me that they had decided to share the work with the temporary hands. On my stressing the point of resumption of normal output, they merely reiterated their statement about sharing the work, and declined to admit that there was restriction of output in operation. On acquainting the managing director of the men’s decision, he instructed me to close down the plant. At a subsequent meeting ol directors, it was decided to open the mine for work under normal conditions this morning. Word was received from Ohai this afternoon that the men had presented the terms to the management this morning, and that their request regarding sharing work at Wairaki mine had been declined.

At a special general meeting of Nightcaps District Miners’ Union yesterday. the following resolution w r as carried unanimously:—“That in the event of the Wairaki men rejecting the owner’s terms, they would receive both the financial and moral support of the whole district.”