COAL PRODUCTION

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 281, 26 August 1942, Page 3

COAL PRODUCTION

Criticism Replied To By

Minister

OUTPUT FROM THE MINES

Remarks about the output of coal ■which-were made toy Mr. A. Hayward, chairman of directors of Glen Afton Collieries Ltd., at the annual meeting of the company, were replied to last night by the Minister of Mines, Mr. AVebb He r>aid he was amazed, that ■a mail occupying a position such as ■Mr. Hayward did should make such a misleading and mischievous statement. ■ - The Minister said that the war it fort of the coal miners of this country, specially during the past j,eai, should be well known to Mr. HayWard, who knew perfectly well that official figures as to production per man employed in and about the mines completely disproved the ease he had attempted to establish at his meeting. The facts were that the miners had been working more consantly and with treater speed than ever before in the ■history of the Dominion, as evidenced bv the record achieved last year wlien the output per man employed in and about the mine was 30 tons- higher than in 1940, and Had been exceeded only twice previously, namely, in the years 1915 and 1916, when transport was much simpler and when a 44-hour week was in operation. The figures published in the Mines Statement each year showed that the operation of the 40-hour week did not lead to any decrease in output; on the contrary, production per man was now higher m 40 hours than it was many years ago when 44 hours weekly was in operatlOMr. Webb said that Mr. Hayward was only expressing his lack of knowledge ot mining conditions when he referred to the Minister trucking off three pairs of miners. "It is true,” said the Munster, "that I have trucked from three pairs ol miners on a close run without difficulty, but it is also true that I have trucked off only one pair of miners oyer a lpn» and difficult road, and worked hard without supplying the miiiers with all the boxes they needed.” lhe Minister said that the number of boxes the miners received was largely determined by tae transport system in vogue underground, and as the colliery developed the underground transport problem became more difficult, with a resultant increase m costs, irrespective of auy increase in wages the trucker might receive.

Back Saturday Work. Heferring to the back Saturday work, the Minister said that notwithstanding Mr. Hayward’s remarks, the facts were that from May to the middle of August, the additional output gained m this way from the key mines alone amounted to 36,000 tons. The effort was clearly well worth while, and was a welcome contribution toward the' fuel needs of the Dominion during the winter months. Mr. Webb said that notwithstanding that miners had established records m production they could, with better organization and determination, improve on those records, and he was • certain they would. The additional miners taken from the armed forces to take their place in the mines must result in an appreciable, increase in production. The miner s lot li'as not an easy one; the nature of the work was hard and laborious, _ and men must be in the pink of condition to stand up to it. Industrial production councils and pit committees had been established throughout the .South Island to great advantage. Never in the history of the mining industry was there such excellent co-opera-tion between the mine-owners and the miners as existed qt the present time, both realizing that the defeat of one was the defeat of all, and by the same rule that victory for one meMt victory for all. It Was regrettable fuiat Mr. Hayward should throw a spanner into this industrial wheel of harmony. If every other section of the community contributed as mu eli effort to achieving victory as the mineis were doing they would have every reason to be proud of their effort. While some of the miners, along witli some of the farmers and business people, were not giving of their best, the great majority were, and they should get every credit for the great work they were doing. Mr. Hayward had stated he had failed to establish co-operative contract trucking at his mines. Thanks to the co-operation of the management and the mine workers, six out of the seven mines controlled by the State had adopted that principle with great advantage to the truckers and the industry. Contract trucking was universal in Southland mines;

Referring to the coal situation generally, the Minister said that as a result of steady work at all collieries during the past few months, the position had improved considerably, aud over the past four weeks railway stocks had improved at the rate of 1400 tons a week. As a result lhe Mining Controller had released an additional 1200 tons weekly from the Waikato mines for the household trade, and a further 800 tons had been released for a like purpose in the Sontii Island. It was still imperative that production lie maintained at the highest possible level as. there was a lot of leeway to be made up before stocks were restored to a normal basis, which was of paramount importance under war conditions.