WORK AND WAGES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 294, 8 June 1912, Page 5

WORK AND WAGES

A MINERS' STRIKE. By Telegraph—Press Association. Whangarei, Friday. The strike affecting sixty employees of the Northern Coal Company's mine at Hikurangi is still unsettled. The weighbridge over which the dispute arose registers only in stones (141b.). The men claim that this affects the returns of their work detrimentally, since the manager declines, a give-and-take basis. The strikers' request for a conference with the directors has been refused until the latter know if the Federation of Labor is behind the strikers. This the men refuse to disclose, but state that the whole difficulty will be settled in half-an-hour if a conference is granted. Meantime passive determination is the order of the day.

THE REEFTON STRIKE. A PUBLIC MEETING. Reefton, Friday. A large meeting last night at the Council Chambers set up a committee to inquire into and, if possible, mediate in the dispute. Speakers strongly objected to linking the Waihi and Reefton strikes. The committee wired to the Minister of Labor, stating that the meeting had expressed strong feeling at the action of the Labor Department in the delay in stating its intention or otherwise of proceeding, and urging that the Arbitration Court sit at once. It is understood that opposition may be shown to granting protection on public grounds, but the companies will ask for protection on every property, owing to labor troubles.