THREAT OF COAL STRIKE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 839, 6 December 1929, Page 1

THREAT OF COAL STRIKE

Deadlock in Australia

COUNTRY-WIDE STOPPAGE

Labour CounciPs Decision

United P.A.—By Telegraph—Copyright Received 9.55 a.m. SYDNEY, Today. FOLLOWING on the rejection of the coal settlement agreement by 4,000 miners at Kurri, a general mining strike throughout the Commonwealth was declared for by the Labour Council at a meeting which was called to consider the debacle.

A meeting of Kurri miners resolved that the miners’ lodges be instructed immediately to appoint two representatives each, to confer with a view to formulating a policy to continue the struggle. Two lodges on the Maitland coalfields held meetings to consider the terms of the proposed settlement yesterday. Their delegates to the recent conference were literally howled down and called traitors. The hooting lasted until the meetings broke up. No decision was reached. Further meetings of other lodges will be held today, and at the weekend. The adverse decision of the Kurri meeting means the end of the present settlement proposals, as it is considered impossible that any other centres will accept terms, in the face of the Kurri rejection. The State Cabinet will meet shortly to consider its decision to reopen certain mines, and the question of continuing the dole to men who refuse to return to work.

Tho 10,000 miners who have been idle for 36 weeks in New South Wales alone have, up to the present, lost nearly £2,000,000 in wages.

The agreement reached between the owners and the miners’ delegates at the last week-end would have become operative on December 9. It provided for a reduction of all contract wages by 12J per cent., and also

for a reduction of sixpence a ton from the wages of day labour employees at. the collieries concerned. The owners, on their part, agreed to submit figures to a committee of employees, showing that the reductions mentioned represented ninepence a ton on the average over the whole of the collieries concerned. The miners undertook not to restrict the output of coal. The proposed agreement gave the owners the right to dismiss any employee, and provided for assurances by the miners for the prevention of petty stoppages. If the agreement had been ratified by the miners, it would have meant that coal for inter-State and export trade would be reduced by about 5s a ton, made up as follows: —Federal Government, Is; State, 2s; owners, Is 6d; miners, 9d. There are over 250 collieries in the Commonwealth, yielding in normal operations an output of 13,496,000 tons of black coal a year. These mines employ close on 35,000 men. Of the total number of black coal collieries, 153 are in New South Wales, 137 of them operating in the rich northern field of that State. Within recent years the demand has exceeded the supply, and it has been estimated that at least 5,000 miners would have to be transferred in other occupations before the present overhead costs of working the mines could be reduced to a profitable level.