THE NEWCASTLE STRIKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8982, 16 November 1907, Page 7

THE NEWCASTLE STRIKE.

JIN OUTLINE OF THE POSITION. The following outline of what has Med to the present embarrassing strike -of Newcastle colliers, and the attitude of owners and workers, will iprove of more than ordinary.,interest ■at the present time:— WHAT THE MEN£WANT. At the time the formation of the coal vend was announced, the price of coal was raised to eleven shillings, .and simultaneously the hewing rate went up by fourpence. The men were not satisfied, demanding •eightpence, and since then things have been unsettled. Attempts to •come to an agreement proved futile, both sides being very determined, -and the position—unless better counsels prevail, which seems improbable —is grave, indeed more particularly •as there is a possibility—not a remote one—of the southern miners .joining their disaffected brethren. Considerable interest has been manifested by southern miners in the appeal by the northern miners for an increase in the price of coal from .next year, and the general opinion expressed is that the price should be raised. In many quarters sympathy is being shown towards the men in tfc(eir efforts to better themselves. The southern miners are working under an agreement, which does not expire for eighteen months, but ere this agreements have been broken. POSITION OF THE MINERS.

According to our Sydney files, the desire has b?en strong upon the northern miners to know whether or not they were likely to have the support of those employed in the western and southern mines in the event of a strike being declared. If fan amalgamation of the three districts can be accomplished, the miners will be in a position to make the matter one of common cause against the proprietor, in the hope of securing recognition of the claims which have been preferred by the northern unit of the proposed federation. That some plan of action has been determined upon seems almost certain. It has been

stated that a recent conference of , miners' had a Commonwealth significance, and, in the circumstances, it is somewhat interesting to note the number of workers who are employed in the federated States. According to official returns contained in the "Year Book" for 1906, there were 14,929 coal miners employed in the State of New South Wales, as against 11,333 in 1900. The coal mines in the remaining States gave employment to only about 2,500 in 3906. Roughlv speaking, therefore, it may be estimated that the collieries of the Commonwealth employ at the present time something between 18,000 and 20,000 workers,of all descriptions. These, of course, are not all unionists, but it Is more than probable that a great proportion of them belong to some kind of industrial organisation. The uncertairy which prevailed respecting the future was over a week exercising a damaging effect upon the coal industry. No one knew w;hat a day might bring forth, and business was being conducted in the most circumscribed . lines. Agents and charterers were at their _ '"its' end to know what to do, and a condition of uneasiness and lack of confidence was being rapidly engendered by the atmosphere of suspense, which enveloped not only the coal trade but every ""other department of industry and business. ATTITUDE OF THE PROPRIE-

TORS. Writ'ng some days since, the Herald remarked:—"'Airongst some of the miners this attitude of the proprietors is xegarded as tantamount to provoking a strike, but there are numbers who while regretting extremely that the whole of the demands made were rejected by the

owners ar& not disposed 1o credit (he proprietors with any sinister designs. With the hewing rate at 10s per ton. tb£ men have done well this year, and with a certain advance for next year they expect to do better because there is every prcspect of the demand for coal being well maintained. It is a long time since the mining comrnunitv was as affluant as it is to-

day, and those who have had an experience of the bad times of the past with a low hewing rate and only intermittent employment, naturally have a disinclination to force on a postion which would most certainly check, if not absolutely annihilate, the prosperity that is now being enjoyed."

In some quarters it has been pointed out that miners in certain districts are making from 10s to 30s per day, and other mine workers are in receipt of proportionately high wages. It is openly hinted that the present situation has been created in order to give an opportunity to graft the principles of the form of unionism known as the Industrial Workers of the World on to the State.

SOME EARNINGS. The Pelaw Main Miners' Lodge decided some time ago to take the •earnings of the colliery for three months, ,so as to ascertain what the average earnings were per man duping 4fh'at period. The average number of rijen working was 296 miners, 96 of whom were working in tops, and 40 machine men were working in the bottoms, earning from 7s 9d to lis per shift; the fortnightly average for bottoms coming out at 8s lid to 93 lOd, tops as high as 15s Id, and as low as 12s lid; whilst the average for the whole of the colliery was -from 10s 5d to lis 6d per shift, which includes machine men's wages, which averaged from 9s 4£d to 12s Id per shift. These wages are not from the office; that is, with powder and fuse paid for, the bill for which averaged £l3l per fortnight. An average, too, of ten days per fortnight was worked •at the stump, which means payment for lodge dues, levies, doctor and • accident fund, etc., and means 10s a fortnight per man, so that it will be seen that each man has averaged not ■quite £2 5s per week—not a very princely sum, considering the work • and the risk.