N.S W. COAL STRIKE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2655, 10 November 1909, Page 5

N.S W. COAL STRIKE.

BOTH SIDES DETERMINED

United Puess Association—Copyright SYDNEY, ,Ncv. 9.

Coal advanced) yesterday by 15s at Sydney, while up to £3 :.s asked at Newcastle for best coal. One effect of the strike is that, ICO coal trains daily ceased running to the northern districts, rendering 200 men idle. The waterside workers await the decision of to-day’s conference with the miners’ delegates before making any move.

Some of the northern co-operative societies have agreed to supply the strikers’ families with the necessaries of life.

Mr. Bowling declares that members of Parliament will not be allowed to interfere in the dispute in any way. The president of the Colliery Proprietors’ Association says that the proprietors have their grievances as well as the men, and these will have to he settled before the miners resume work. They cannot go back on the same terms as they came out on. One prominent proprietor doedares that the owners are going to fight out the matter this Time themselves. No offers of intervention by the Government or anyone else are likely to be favorably considered.

EFFECTS OF THE STRIKE IN VICTORIA. MELBOURNE, Nov. 9. The strike is not likely to seriously affect the railways or the city gas supply for some time. Both have stocks of coal. Some works and some shipping and) manufacturing firms caught short-handed will feel the pinch unless there is a speedy settlement. A meeting of the Chamber of Manufacturers discussed the situation.- and resolved to urge on the Government the necessity of opening up the Victorian coalfields at the earliest opportunity. RESOLUTIONS OF THE STRIKE CONFERENCE. (Received November 10, 12.40 a.m) The miners' strike conference concluded to-night. The following resolutions were adopted : '‘That the proprietors of the northern, western, and southern coal districts be asked to meet representatives of the Federal Coal and-Shale "Workers of Australasia in open conference immediately, in order to redress existing ■grievances; that in the event- of such conference not meeting before Tuesday next, the delegates representing the "Waterside and Maritime Unions,, the Coal Lumpers’ Union, and the Coal Trimmers’ Union recommend their members and all those engaged in transport trades to cease work that day.” STATEMENT BY A LABOR LEADER

Air. Hughes, ALP., President of the Waterside AVorkers' Union, in announheen possible to have postjioned the that the resolutions were come to after they had carefully listened to the case put forward by the miners. ;It became perfectly clear that while it might have been possible to have postponed, the matter for a little while, a condition of things existed, and had existed 1 for a considerable time, at Newcastle, which made it impossible for the men to continue work. .A policy of pinpricks had been pursued for a long while. Some of the pinpricks had-gone very deep, and were, he thought, deliberately made for the purpose of provoking such disturbances as this, for the purposes of the employers. Speaking for himself, lie went to the conference rather disposed to censure the precipitate action of the miners, but came out with the conviction that the position had been deliberately forced on them. As things were, it was only a matter of a few (Jays—a fortnight at the outside when a full half of the persons employed throughout Australia would he unemployed, and on the verge of starvation, through lack of coal. Under these circumstances it was felt that the onlj hope fey in a conference of the parties.