THE PREMIER’S CHALLENGE

Hokitika Guardian, 29 September 1920, Page 2

THE PREMIER’S CHALLENGE

ATTITUDE, of cabinet.

THREAT TO CO AI, MINERS

(Our Parliamentary Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, gep. 28

An announcement tluit may be the signal for a long threatened industrial conflict, was made by Mr Massey in the House to-day. Mr Massey'said he had received the following telegram from the Secretary of the Miners Union at Runanga: — “As the result of the Railway Department’s attitude in ordering workmen out of a first class car, and there was not sufficient accommodation in the

rest of the train, the..men were prevented from going to work by. the first train to Rowanui.. A mass meeting this morning strongly protested against the action of the Railway Department arid we refuse to travel under such circumstances.” Mr Massey added that immediately after receiving this telegram he asked the Railway Department anjFMines Department for reports upon the incident. He had received both reports , which showed that the guard had insisted that men in a first class carriage should go to a second class or pay the difference in fares. There had been ample second class accommodation on the train.

The Prime Minister told the House that the State Mine had been idle nine days last month, and five days this month, for various reasons. He added this soirt of thing cannot be allowed to go on much longer. I called the attention of Cabinet to it this morning and we agreed that Government would advise members of the Union that differences which arise between the miners at the State Mine and the Railway Department do not justify stoppages of work at the mine, and further that if the minors do not resume work within three days, and if work, when resumed is not. carried on with reasonable expedition, all operations will cease until further notice, and the mine will in the meantime remain closed. I Mr Holland (Buller)-Yon will cut coal off from the people of New Zealand to spite the miners! Mr Massey—Coal has already been cut off from the people of New Zenfiand and very serious hardship and inconvenience has resulted. Government has been very patient in connection with these troubles, but we must draw the line somewhere.” We want the miners of the State Mines, and perhaps other miners as well, to whom this may apply, to understand that if we do not get a supply from the cos' mines of the Dominion, to which v.o are reasonably entitled, then other arrangements will have to be made. : k Member— Bring the War Regulations into effect. j Mr Massey added that he had no direct information as to what was taking place at Pukemiro. He had read the statements appearing in the newspaj pers. If the mine owners were at • fault they would be treated in just the same way as. the miners. He would ask the Mines Department at once for a statement of the position at Pukemiro . If either mine owners or the miners : had broken the law, action would he taken.

THE ULTIMATUM. THREE DAYS TO DECIDE. (Our Parliamentary Correspondent,

WELLINGTON, Sept. 29

Mr Massey’s ultimatum to men employed at the State Coal mine is expected to have important results quicks ly. It has become apparent within recent months that the continual stop pages at the coal mines all over Nett Zealand were not due merely to local causes. One dispute has succeeded another in such a fashion as to indicate that the miners were working on a concerted,- plan. This certainly has been Government’s reading of the situation.

The latest stoppage at the State mines is attributed by the men to a refusal of the Railway Department to let certain miners travel first class with second class tickets. The Government’s ! reply is to the effect that the mine will . be closed indefinitely if the men do not get back to work under normal conditions within three days. The matter will not end there, since it may be taken for granted that the coal mining companies will follow the lead that Government has given them. The miners generally must work- or stop - altogether. The limitation of production by means of the go-slow poicy, the irritation strike, and casual ! stoppages is not to be tolerated any

longer. ! What the outcome may he will he ! known within the next few days. If the miners stop, one of the biggest in- ' dustrial upheavals in t*he history of New Zealand will he in sight.

UNION’S OFFICIAL REPORT. RUNANGA, September 28. As a result of the Railway Department’s attitude in ordering workmen out of a, first-class car, at Dunollie, while there was not sufficient seating accommodation in the other carriages the men were prevented from getting to their work at the Liverpool No 1 Mine this morning. Recently we had a strike for eight days and were successful in getting two trains in the morning to take the workmen up to work,

the first one leaving Greymouth at 6.35 a.m. with three cars on; two ordinary 'seifend-class carriages and another much smaller with first and second-class compartments. When the workmen get in at Dunollie the train is full, first and second alike, carrying about 120 men; but this morning before the train left Dunollie the guard ordered the men out of the first-class car, and as there was no room for them in the other cars, they were compelled to leave the train. This the men resented, as it has always been the custom for them to travel in the first-class when the other cars were full, and all the members of the Miners Union left the train.

The men who travel by the second train to IJiverpool No 3 Mine also refused to travel as a protest against the Department’s action to their fellow workers wlu> travel by tile first train.

Subsequently a mass meeting of the men was held in the Miners’ Hall, and it was decided to enter the strongest protest against the pin-pricking tactics of the Railway Department, and they also pledged themselves to refrain from using the train in future under the said circumstances.