COAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1920, Page 5

COAL.

l PUKEMIRO STILL IDLE. SETTLEMENT POfffPOlfflD. By Telsgraph.—JVess Association, Wellington, Last Night. T&6 executive of the Mine-owners' Association met to-day to consider the* Pukemiro dispute, but as there was. no' guarantee that the men would resume forthwith the Disputes Committee did not meet. * Mr. Pryor (employers' representative) sent a letter to Mr. Arbuckle (men's representative) stating that in view of the arrangement made on Tuesday that if the men resumed work to-day the Disputes Committee would meet, dispositions were made to carry this out. The directors of the mine made special arrangements to get their manager, who was in Auckland, to the mine, only to learn when he arrived that the men had trot resumed, and were calling a meeting for to-day. ~ faer Pukemiro Union alone, Mr. Pryor I contends, is preventing the meeting of i the comssittee, but if he is informed that the Men have decided to resume at pnes he will endeavor to get the members of the executive together again before they Wave Wellington. AN IMPROVED OUTLOOK. STATEMENT BY THE PREMIER. Wellington, Last Night. In the House of Representatives toIday, replying to Mr. J. A. Nash j (Palfflerston North), Mr. Massey said [there was no shortage of Australian -'coal, but there was a shortage of shipping to bring it over to New Zealand. There was difficulty in connection with loading ships,«for Australian States had been given precedence over the Dominion, but for that we could not altogether blame the Commonwealth. In this connection, however, the supply was overtaking the demand, and more coal would soon be available for no. There was this further difficulty, that in loading coal for New Zealand the men would not work' overtime, which caused delay in loading. So far as the position in New Zealand was concerned, he thought it was more hopefuL The Pukemiro mine was, he thought, the only one idle at present, and he believed the position would soon improve. The Government was doing its best, but it could not do impossibilities.. AUCKLAND STILL GAS-LESS. TRAMS TO RUN NEXT WEEK. i Auckland, Last Night. The Pukemiro mine was still idle today. ; The Miners' Union met and took a secret ballot as to whether work should be resumed on the conditions suggested. The result of the ballot will not be known until to-morrow afternoon. The Auckland Gas Company has no coal except a few tons that are being used to make enough gas to prevent the gas-holders from toppling down. It was hopeo" that the company would be able to resume its normal supply of gas about the middle of next week, but now it is almost certain that there will be no gas at all until the following week. The company's daily consumption under normal circumstances is 250 tons, and there is no prospect of sufficient supplies to make possible a resumption of tie service for at least ten days. A definite announcement is now made !by the Tramway Department that a full service will be resumed on Monday morning next. Every member of the staff has been notified of the coming resumption. PUKEMIRO NEGOTIATIONS.. 50 CONFERENCE TSEWi ; EI9OTJSSION PROBABLE TO-DAY. Wellington, Last Night. The* executive of the Coal-mine Owners' Association met again this afternoon, when advice was received from Mr- Arbuckle that no decision would be arrived at at Pukemiro until after 2 p.m. to-morrow: As, In the opinion.of the executive, the Pukemiro Union had not taken the {/oner steps 1 to have the matter dealt with in time for to-day's meeting in Wellington, it was decided to send another letter to Mr. Arbuckle, in which the following passages occur: "My executive is of opinion that the Pukemiro Union has only been trifling with the matter, and that no real effort has been made to have operations resumed this morning in accordance with the arrangement made between you and myself for a meeting of the National Disputes Committee, or even that work should be started to-morrow morning. In view of the fact that the Pukemiro Union has had since Tuesday last, which offered ample time to arrive at a decision before this date, and that a resumption of work this morning was a condition precedent to the meeting of the National Disputes Committee, my executive has decided that the only condition on which work can now be resumed at the mine is in acocrdance with the very reasonable proposals made to you on Saturday last, as under; That the Federation and the local union should give an undertaking in writing, to be embodied in the supplementary agreement, that in the event of any dispute or stoppage of work in the mine, thVfngine drivers will not, on any pretext whatever, refuse to perform any duties necessary in connection with the pumping operations, or the ventilation of the nline.'" The letter is signed by Mr. Pryor, secretary of the Owners' Association.