THE TE KOURA TROUBLE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1352, 1 February 1912, Page 3

THE TE KOURA TROUBLE.

CO-OPERATIVE LABOURERS STOP WORK. IBy Teleiraph.-Srecial CorreSDondenU Auckland, January 31. If appears, that the trouble with the railway workers at T.e Koura is a recur-, rence of the grievance'repeatedly cropping up at all co-operative railway works. Only in this case a number of men left in a body, instead of drifting off singly as the good men do from other works when able to find something better. About 15 men only have left the works, but the rest are expressing discontent. The men say that some of the gangs got only 6s. a day, others 7s. 2d., and others Bs., while the day wages men also received the latter siini.' The biggest pay that has been received was 9s. Bd. a day, by one gang only. Tho men complain also that there was no system or method in the work. They.did not know whether they were on co-operative work or not. . No contract was signed by the working partic?. lien, they declare, who earned 11s. Gd. a day on the Midland Railway construction could make no more than 7:?. 2d. a day at Te Koura. They also say that they saw in a newspaper a statement to the effect that all men engaged on railway construction work would receive !te. a day, but they can got uo assurance from the overseer that such will be the case. ' There was no general meeting nf the men to organise a strike. The only protests - were individual ones and refusals to take the pay. A number of those who telt aggrieved told the overseer that, they would telegraph to Sir Joseph Ward, but he recommended them to wait until'he cquld lay the matter befdre Mr. Barker the- engineer in charge, and if he could not deal, with it he would refer it to , ■, M i c , k <"izie, district engineer at Stratford. They were told that from tho beginning of this month they might expect to be paidils. a day, but that possibly that rate might not come into force till the end of the financial vcar. They did not see fit to wait for .this, so some fl,"i men-(about one-third of the number employed) determined to go out.