MEDIATION OFFER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 September 1942, Page 3

MEDIATION OFFER

MADE BY THE MAYOR OF HUNTLY ATTEMPT TO SETTLE MINING STRIKE. COURT PROCEEDINGS TODAY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, September 16. An approach to the miners and coalowners by the Mayor of Huntly, Mr G. Smith, in the capacity of voluntary mediator and endeavours by him and Mr Moncur, M.P., to arrange for a mass meeting of the men on strike were the major developments today in the Waikato coal dispute. The results of the advances made by the Mayor are still indefinite and, while no settlement is yet in sight, a more optimistic feeling has been created by the day’s activities. The first move was made this morning by Mr Moncur. He obtained official permission to convene a mass meeting of men and later, in company with the Mayor, discussed with the union executive proposals for a meeting this evening. It was afterward stated that the executive said it would be inadvisable to hold a meeting to be addressed solely by two outsiders and the proposal was dropped. The Mayor conferred with the executive Jn the afternoon and discussed suggestions for finding a solution of the position. The nature of the proposals has not been revealed, but the Mayor, in an interview, intimated that he had been in touch with representatives of the mine owners in Huntly and Auckland by telephone. “I have been endeavouring to break fresh ground in an effort to reach some agreement by which the miners will resume work,” said Mr Smith. He said everyone, including the miners, appreciated the parlous position and the imperative need for the speedy resumption of coal-getting. While he was non-committal ■ on the prospects of his mediation, the Mayor said he was hopeful that the door would be kept open till a settlement was reached.

Apart from the negotiations for a settlement, chief interest is centred on the proceedings to be taken in Court tomorrow against 196 Pukemiro men concerned in the original dispute. Advice was received by Mr F. Findlay, chairman of the Waikato Hospital Board, from the Mayor of Huntly that the miners had agreed to see that the hospitals did not run short of coal.

ESSENTIAL ISSUE THE MAINTENANCE OF WAR PRODUCTION. STATEMENT BY FEDERATION OF LABOUR. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “However justifiable a stoppage might be under normal conditions, today any action which holds up war production is contrary to the policy of the trade union movement,”, comments the Federation of Labour in a statement issued yesterday concerning the stoppage of work at the Waikato mines. “The facts concerning the Waikato coalfield are that the miners have gone on strike because of a dispute at the Pukemiro colliery on the question of the minimum wage,” the statement adds. “The' Pukemiro miners demand that the minimum wage be paid unconditionally by the employers. The mine owners, as they have a right to do under the agreement governing the conditions of work in tne mine, dispute their liability to pay the minimum wage in the particular circumstances, but they have stated that they are perfectly willing to allow the dispute to be decided by the disputes committee as provided for in the agreement. “The federation has not for the time being gone into the merits of the dispute. That is a job for the disputes committee which eventually adjudicates on the dispute. . The principal issu'e at the moment is whether the Waikato miners are prepared to support the pledge given by the last annual conference of the Federation of Labour, the pledge that we would do our utmost to maintain New Zealand s war effort at the highest possible level That is the all-important issue before us. We are fighting for our very existence as a free people, we must win this war. We cannot affoid to lose because defeat would mean the loss of everything worth while. It is our job to produce the goods and seivices that are required to make New Zealand’s war effort as effective as possible. Nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of essential producLl< *‘lf the Waikato miners are confident that their case is a good one . they should have no fear of submitting it to the disputes committee. Not only have they opportunity to submit the case to the disputes committee provided for in their agreement, but they have also the alternative choice of the Coal-mines Council or the recently appointed National Disputes Tribunal, which was asked for by the workers themselves at the annual conference of the federation. “If the miners realised fully tnai their present action is directly and specifically helping the Japanese, as well as indirectly helping them by hindering our war production the statement concludes, “they would have no hesitation in returning to work immediately. Their dispute can be settled justly through the channels they themselves have approved. It should, and must, be so settled.”