THE COAL STRIKES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 161, 27 March 1918, Page 8

THE COAL STRIKES

UNION DELEGATES TO MEET MR. MASSEY. A delegation from the striking unions of coalmmevs on the West Coast is to wait upon tho Prime Minister to-day to have a talk with him about the situation. At present there is a shortage of coal and there is no little prospect of the position being improved in the near future. The miners are reported to bo working at much less than their maximum capacity, and a number of them have refused on pretexts that must be considered frivolous to do any work at all. The Government has threatened action against the offenders under the War Regulations, and it may bo presumed that this is the immediate cause of the deputation from the unions to Mr. Masscy.

The mines in the North Island, are working tolerably satisfactorily, but tho output at these mines is limited by the supply of trucks from the railways. Thero aro no bins at Bimtly and the other centres in the North Island. The coal is delivered from the screens into trucks. The method of delivery of the coal is such that it would not pay to erect bins, and in any case tho coal is such that it would not stand exposure to the weather. There is no possibility of building up reserves of coal from the northern fields. The miners will not allow reserves to accumulate from the AVest Coast mines. Tho general opinion of those interested in the coal business is that these recurring strikes on the Coast aro not a series of accidents.