STATE COLLIERY STRIKE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 215, 9 December 1909, Page 5

STATE COLLIERY STRIKE.

Information bus been received by telegram from an unofficial but reliable •nura- in Greymouth, by the lion. A. R.iHjinnesa.&ivtng the principal grievanc -s of the men who h»ve gone on .itrike. The point* in dispute are outlined in the telegram aa fottows: Formerly the miliar trucked the coal fifty yards and left it for the trucker, who took it on, leaving an empty in it* place. The working face* are now further from the haulage rope, the manager insists that the men should truck tGO yards, sometimes further, and as the road i» bad in some places, it takes two men alt they know to get the truck out to the trucker, involving a loss of between 18 minutes to :;o minutes in the hour. Another grievance mentioned in the telegram is that the men working in places .where coal is deficient and stone ptenti ful sometimes make barely five shillings a day per fortnight, whereas formerly such "caviifs" as the working places are called* were subject to an arrangement which) enabled *b« wages to be made up to> twelve shillings a day, the minimum *»te ia the mine. Now the men are only paid what they earn. lSometoeky*'cair*W'' on good coal are said to result. in the mm making JB2 a day, but the poor chvill i sometimes return only 6>ve shillings. Several m§n left the mine prior to the strike, aa they considered the arrangement unjust. The member for Grey has brought this statement under the Prime Minister's notice, and nuked him to make inquiries regarding ttd aecurracy.