MINERS FAIL TO REPORT FOR WORK

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19271, 7 January 1931, Page 14

MINERS FAIL TO REPORT FOR WORK

TWO STATE MINES IDLE DURING THE HOLID \VS.j t Per Frese Association. i WELLINGTON, January 3. Coincident with the holding of the, trotting meeting at Greymouth, two of , the State coal mines in the districts have been rendered idle through being t unable to secure enough miners toi work the shifts. Both the James and* Liverpool mines were to have reopened 1 after the holidays on Monday. Not one man reported at either mine to-day, the second day of the meeting, and, only a few put in an appearance on* Monday. It is usual for the mines to l close down over the Christmas and New Year period, and they were to have resumed operations last Mdnday after being closed since December- 23. Information received by the Mines Department on Monday stated that had been impossible to resume work owing to the fact that no men had re- 1 ported at the James mine. Only sev- 1 enty out of a total of 350 miners em- 1 ployed at the Liverpool mine reportedt for duty that day, but this number was. insufficient to work the mine. To-day,, further information stated that not A one man appeared for work at of the mines. The average daily output of the two mines totals about 000 tons, of which 700 tons is taken from the Liverpool mine. This means that about 1800 tons of coal would have been produced on the two days on which work was to have been in progress following the holidays. It is estimated that the total loss in wages for the two days amounts to about £6OO.