CRISIS OVER COAL DISPUTE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 30, 30 October 1919, Page 6

CRISIS OVER COAL DISPUTE

REFUSAL TO HANDLE NEWCASTLE SHIPMENTS

, A GENERAL STOPPAGE

What amounts practically to a crisis lia3 now arisen in connection with the employment of labour on the waterfront. .Yesterday.morning and aftorftoon further were made for labour to discharge - the steamer Kaiapoi, which arrived on Saturday with a cargo of coal from Newcastle, but none was forthcoming. There being no response to requests for the ■unloading of tho Kaiapoi, the watereiders were not asked to work' any of the other vessels' in port, and the consequence the wharves were al-most-idle, the only boats working being thoso' which' had been engaged in unloading before Saturday last. Tho position noiv is that no work will be offering on the wharves unless the watereiders agree to disuhaigo. the coal from the Kaiapoi'. ■ In shipping circles yesterday it was stated that, apparently jn sympathy With the miners, the waterside workers in Wellington havo now definitely refused to discharge coal imported from overseas. Tho Union Company's steamer Kaiapoi has on board 2400 tons of coal which the watersiders Tefuse to handle, and on Monday the Kaitangatn, also a Union Company vessel, brought 3000 tons of ocral from Newcastle, which the watereiders will not touch either. Tho coal brought by theso two vessels was earmarked for tho bunkering of oversea steamers as well as vessels trading on the New Zealand coast. A third steamer, the Wanaka, is at present .en route from Newcastle with 3000 or 4000 tons of coal oonsigned to the New Zealand Railways Department. In the circumstances, tho employers of waterside labour have felt ■ compelled to refrain from engaging labour for any other work on the waterfront iuntil the Waterside Workers'

TJnion makes satisfactory arrangements

for tine unloading of coal from the, ves- ! . sek now in harbour aud shortly to aifciMe.. The shipowlnera state that they feel they havo taken tho only action possible to counteract v.'hat is alleged to be an effort of the watersidere to prevent an adequate supply of coal being made available for the people of .the Dominion, and for the bunkering of oversea ships. A prominent shipping 'official etated yesterday that the leprc- . sentatives of the Watersido Workers' Union had urged upon tho shipowners the necessity of bringing pressure to bear on tho coal mine owners to call a conference with the Miners' Federation for the purpose of trying to arrange a settlement of the coal mines dispute. It was quite evident, therefore, that the watersiders were seeking to nee the shipping companies as a lever to effect an adjustment of the coal miners' grievances. When interviewed by a Doaniriox reporter yesterday, Mr. J. Roberta, secretary of tho New Zealand Federation of Waterside Workers, and Mr. L. Glover, president of the Wellington Waterside Workers' TJnion, both said that they had nothing to Tepoyt on the situation. Asked wliother the Transport Workers' Federation, which includes the coal ■ ininers. seamen, railwaymen, and carriers, had taken any action in the matter, Mr. Roberts replied in the negative, and added that no meeting had been held to discuss the position. Mr. ,T. G. Bruce, secretary of the Wellington Waterside Workors , "Union, informed «i teuorter that the union was not cognisant of the cause of the unwillingness to work on the ships in •question. Labour had been called, but \ there had been no response This was 1 Tegardcl ns being due to the individual action of the men. As to the rumour of a tacit understanding reached at the last "stop-work" meeting not to work ■ Newcastle coal, Mr: Bruce bad no comment to ■ make. The union disclaimed any responsibility for hardships which the public lnifrlit have to undergo through the refusal of the shipping ■ companies to call for labour to work the ferry, steamers. The workers were perfectly willing and ready to handle the vesao'ta, and the public would be put to no inconvenience through them. The union could certainly not be held to blame for any hold-up of shipping that might take placa through the action of the shipping companies in refusing to call for' labour. The union held that ' any difficulty arising in the work on tho wharf should bo met by action through the proper channels—tho Local Disputes -•Committee, and, if further recourse were necessary, through the National Com- - mittee. Most of the coastal fleet m port were held up as a result of tho trouble yP3terdav. Tho Manuka, arrived in the •• morning from Lyttelton, but did not ~ -work her cargo. During the day she took on board .several horses and motor- ■ cars. sailing at her usual time in the .'evening. She is to bunker at Lyttelton , tyrtuiy. The Patscna, which arrived from Pioton and Nelson tho previous evening, did no work, and her departure on the return trip was cancelled. To-day she is to sail at 11 a.m. for Picton only, returning to Wellington this evening. • After to-day all sailings for Picton and Nelson are cancelled in the meantime. The Ifaitoa, from Nelson, brought among other curgo '15 tons of fruit, which had to be carried back. The onlv boats to work yesterday were the Ainna, Ripple, Wayerley, Invoreiu , - rill. Johi). Kapiti, and Komhtn. The Knnin and Kaniona worked timber only. The Hororata. from Napier, is the onlv Homo, liner expected n( Wellington '■.' tordav. whilst the next steamer from an overseas port will be the Tofua, from San Francisco, on Saturday. . qdestions~bTpariiameivt MR. MASSEY'S STATEMENT AN INTOLERABLE POSITION The trouble on tihe Wellington wharves was mentioned in the House, cf Representatives yesterday afternoon, and the Prime Minister inr.de a statement on the eubject. Mr. H. G. EU , (Christchurcli South) said he had been on tho wharves that morninp;, and h;ul soon humlr.;<ls of men idle owing to the difficultly regarding the unloading of coal, lie had spoken In some of the men, anjj they had agreed that the trouble was bard on working men, who wore being punished with their families by the action of a section. "It Beems to me," said Mr. Ell, "that <ome appeal should be made to lbe-e men'* humanity. I received a letter Ibis mowing from a member of the ChrislcUiircli City Council asking for assistance in getting coal for the people of that, city. Yet there are two boats in Wellington harbour, one oonfmning 2-MMI tons ot coal and the offlicr 3000 tons of coal, v.-1-.ip.li the men will not unload." lie had read in the newspapers that owing to the "goBlow" policy at the mines there was .a shortage, of many thousands of tons in . production every week. "Cannot something be done? asked Jfr EH. "If these wnrking men won't help their fellow working men to ksrp down the cost of living, which is increased by the use of imported coal, 1 want to nsk tho Prime Minister if the Government cannot do something m tho matter. The cost of livins is gome up in consequence of this trouble. lhe.V are punishing every working mans home throughout the country." Mr..Jill asked if the mincw had a real gncvaira or anv just cause for'their action, whHi was damaging to the country as a whole. Tho Prime Minister, replying to Hie last part of the question, said that it the miners were not properly paid it was the duty of Uio Government and Parliament to seo that they were properly paid Ho was (|uiti) prepared la submit that question to any impartial tribunal—the Arbitration Court, tba Judges of the Supremo Court, or any other set of men in whom the public could have confid-

fincc. If. tho conditions of work were unsatisfactory, let them by all means be improved. "1 know what is happening <n tho wharves," said Mr. Massey. "The prosent position is exceedingly unsatisfactory, and it is rapidly becoming intolerable. We have in this country many mil. lions of tons of coal waiting to be mined, and yet the position to-day is that only with tho utmost difficulty are we able to provide sufficient coal to keep our railways and industries going, and to nieeb domestic requirements of the people. We are importing coal from America and paying very high rates of freight, and wo are also importing coal from Australia under similar conditions. I am not able to state that ttie iates of freight are unreasonably high, for we havo had to uso some deep-sea ships to bring coal to this country, and the companies have to charge very high rates to make the business pay. Instead of importing soal wo ought to be in a position in dliis country to export coal, owing to the quantities that we know exist here." He had been unable during 'recent weeks to give tho coal ta'oublo the liittcution it deserved. lie did not know that he would have been able to do any good if time had been at hie disposal, but ho lioped soon to be able to give attention to the matter.

An Appeal to Reason. Mr. Massey added that he had been in correspondence with both the mineowners and the miners. Last Saturday, before he heard of the new difficulty regarding tlie unloading of the steamer Kaiapoi in Wellington, he had sent the following letter to tho representative of tho miners:—

Dear Sir,—l have to refer to my letter of October 16 and to remind you that an answer has nod yet been received. As a great waste of time and energy is taking place owing to the go-slow policy, which is apparently still in operation in mosb of the coal mines, and as considerable inconvenience is being caused to many of the public, I shall bo glad to "know definitely whether the ininers intend do accept the last offer made to them by the employers, p», if not, whether it is proposed to file tho dispute for hearing under section 4 of Hie 1911 Act, as suggested

bv mo on the 16th instant. "Every facility Ims beei. given to the minors for an impartial investigation and settlement. You must be awaro that a conference was first held with tho owners, when an increase in wages was offered and declined. At your ro. quest I then invited the owners to again meet) tho miners' representatives. In reply the owners stated that they could not concede uny further increase in wages, as the cost thereof would have to be passed on to the general public in increased prices, and that, therefore, a further conference would he useless. I then pointed out to you that several courses were open to the men, under any of which they had tho right to file their dispute for Investigation and settlement. You rejected all of these in turn. These were first to make application under the special legislation of last year for the purpose of obtaining an increase in wages to meet tihe increased cost of living. 1 understand that you declined tins for the reason that the offer of the owners was already equivalent or

moro than equivalent to that increase. I then snggcstyd that you should have conciliation councils of experts representing) both sides set; up in the various districts. (These councils would be much tbs same as a conference, and would*Be presided over by tho conciliation commissioners, any of whom you had agreed to accept as chairman ,of the. conference proposed by yon.) You objected to this course because, so you stated, it was essential that the dispute should be dealt with for the whole Dominion.

I then pointed out to you that tho Act met your wishes in this direction,, seein'jf'thflt section i of the 1911 amendment empowers the men to file their dispute for the Dominion generally or for any part of the Dominion as they Tiay choose. I have not received anv reply from you to

this last suggestion. You have also rejected my jiropoßal Hint a ballot of men be now taken on thn question of accepting Hhe owners' kst offer, namely. Hint (he increase in ivn»es conceded by them, with the exemption of two or three special cases, be payable forthwith instead of being withheld until the expiration of tlho nresf'it agreement. I have had tho tuetness of tho House to attend to for the last two months, and my time has been more than fullv occupied, T>ut in justice to Mio citizens of the Dominion, who are intensely interested in this dispute, I ivwild ask thnl: n moiv sensible and reasonable attitude be adopted, and the difficulty brought to an end.—Yours faithfully, (Signed) W. F. MASSEY. The Secretary, New Zealand Alliance of Labour, Wellington, "Miners in the Wrong," The Prime Minister stated that lie had not received anv reply to that letter. JTe did not know if a reply would be forthcoming. Mr. P. Frawr-. Have you senhnny letter 'to the emplovors f Mr. iiassey: Yes. Mr. 11. E. Holland: Couched in similar terms lo that? Mr. Massey: The position is different in dire ease of tlie employers to that of the miners

Mr. Holland: You assume the miners are wrong? Mr. Massey: I believe the miners nro wrong. Thn honourable gentleman knows in his henvl that such is the cn-<e. 1 have not got the figures iliere, but tho facts are that the miners applied for an increase in wages. They had i>. conference with the employers a couple of "■nut , is ago. Tin , mine- owners offered the men a considerable increase, a very considerable increase amounting to several shillings per dr.y per man. I think I am right in payiiur Win.t at the timo it was shown by Hip report of tITe Board of Trade and from other sources that Ilia miners ww-n cumin" anproxiinately £\ a iluj. The offer would have iriven tiliem another three or four shilli'ifp. They wore not satisfied. I don't recollect how much more thny nslced for, but the mine owners elated that it would have put up Hip price of pnal £1 per ton and iiw-wd tin- cost of living.

Afr. How can Hint be if the miners only get a few shillings a, day estra ? Jl" Tmtispt: Bill you accept that statement? .Mr. V,i«<-?y: T bplieve it In ho correct. I could mil: sanction such an increase in the post of living as wns asked for. If the honourable gentlemen want anv inquiry nn the point they can have it. Mr. 0. .T. Parr: Why don't you go to Hi" Arl.itiution Court? Mr. Holland: We have no confidence in Win Court, and the honourable gentleman knows it.

Mr. Miißsoy: The min? owners have made their offer mid Ifliey are prepared In stand by it. They are quite nrpunrp'l i" et.'iH "oy 71 ii"v:. ... I p:n- that this thing lias trot to be faced r.w] dniill with. It simply cannot ?o mi in |1>« present way. 1 inn not able to make any suction furlfc'r than I have made, ulrcaitv. No Minority Rule. Mr. Holland: II innN I" »ip n= if you .-.re precipitating a strike before the elections. Mr. Mn e =!\v: The thing lin.= rjot to hispltl"cl ami we have sot In brinu' nbout a better and more satisfactory state of thiivs. If it is going to cost us more money, then let us give it. This is nor, a question of money at all. It is a question.of having cnnl supplied for tho requirements of our citizens. I can ns-

euro honourable members that no ono i* moro anxious to bring about a Piitisfaclory settlement of this difficulty than I am. But the outlook is not good., Wβ may bo involved in very serious trouble. before long. I hopo that the trouble will not come, but if it flow we must faeo it. We have got to assert tbo right of the people of this country to govern tho country in their own way. Mr. Holland: The employers' way. Mr. Ji'asscy: Wo are not going to bo governed by any minority,

Request for a Conference, / Mr. Holland said he wished to ask Hie Primo Minister, in connection with the coal question, whother ho would call a. compulsory conference of miners and transport workers (including- railway, men) with the employers, and whether in the event of that conference tailing to bring about a settlement of tho dispute i:o would immediately take step* to put into operation th" recommendation of the Industries Committee, which was tho only possible solution of tho trouble. [The recommendation of the committee referred to was that the Government should acquire f .he mines and opera to them.] Mr. Massi'y said that he was not prepared to say that tho recommendation of tho Industries Committee was the only possible, solution of the trouble. It had not been proved to be the only possible solution of tho trouble in England-

Mr. Holland: It has not been tried in England. Mr. Massoy said that the mino owners wen: asking for it in England. His own opinion was that tho solution would have to be found by some other methods in this conntry. As soon as he could get time ho would inquire into the wholo problem on his own account. Ho lioped to be able to make up his mind then as to what must bo done, and to make a statement to the House on the situation.