ARE MINERS WEAKENING?

Chronicle (Levin), 6 July 1949, Page 5

ARE MINERS WEAKENING?

Growing Hopes Of Early Em To Coal Strike Received Wednesday, 11.20 a.m. SYDNEY, July 6. • Some miners' lodges . on " the northern New Sopth Wales coalfields hiave asked for a meeting with the Northern Miners' Board to discuss the coal strike, The board is the supreme authority on the northern fi'elds and has' power to 1 call meetings to reconsider ' the fs+rike, which. is now in its tenth day. I ■ ■ As a result of this and other .pressure against the strike leaders, there is growing hope in Canb'erra and Sydney bhat the rank and file miners wiTend the strike. ■ The Daily Telegraph correspondent in Cessnock, however, warns that the L'abour Party campaign on the coalfields is unlikely to produce results rapidly. Meetings at Cessnock and Weston showed that the 1 Commun'st leaders slf.l he'd the |initiative and that most of the miners ,were indifferent. Workers" Huge Losses. last week over half a million workers suffered a wage loss totalling f5.000.000. Many of these people are already cutting deeply into meagre savings and face the prospect of being destitute within a few weeks if the strike continues. 7n a tvpieal case, a proeess worker with a wife and tbree children ha" weeklv' living costs amounting to £7 Is His norma] wage is £7 2s weekly plns £1 from chiJd endowment, leaving p. normal margin for clothing, hospita1 insuranee. dentist's and doctor's bill and enfertainment of £2 ls. He has been able to save nothing and during the first week of unemplovment ha" been able to draw nothing from the Go vernment. This week he will receive hi ■ first dole pavment of £2 10s which wili continue weekly until he is re-employ-ed. ' • Another man whc as foreman in a laundry. received £21 10s weekly, is in little better plight. He is paving oflP a mortgage at the rate of £2 10s weekly wd with this eneumranee, believes it costs himself, wife and twro children £10 weekly to live. His savings comprise £25, all the rest having gone to*wards the purchase of the house. Even counting unemployment pay, his monthly d'eficit while the strike persists, . wil1 be £36 10s. These are desperate cases but b'y no means the most serious ones in Australia to-day. The only hope for these people a'nd thousands like them, is to resume work as soon as possible — but if - the strike weie to end to-morrow. it would be many weeks before all workfess could be re-employed.