The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1909. STRIKING AT THE STATE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2673, 1 December 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1,1909. STRIKING AT THE STATE.

Many of the moderate Socialists must have received a rude shock at the announcement of and subsequent continuance of a strike in the State iceal mines. According to these gullible individuals the only sure method of preventing industrial disorder is for the State to take charge of those industries at present managed privately and to run them “for the public benefit.” And now we find that the same causes which lead to strikes under private employment operate in precisely,, the same degree where; tlm Government Department is the employer. So far-as can be ascertained'the miners who have struck at the Point Elizabeth mine are by no -means badly treated. They have been receiving 14s for a working day. of seven hours, and they are now striking because they consider that withinthe seven hours they should not bo called upon to do any trucking. Until about five months ago the men were registered under the Arbitration Act and were working under an agreement. The officers of the Union, however, refused' to supply tbo Labor Department with certain information that by law it was entitled to and for this and other reasons the Department ultimately cancelled the Union’s registration. It will, therefore, bo noted that the present strike is not of a Union but of an aggregation of miners. Presumably, therefore, they do not come within the scope of the latest Arbitration Act, and it may be difficult to find statutory warrant for dealing with their action in striking. Since the Union was disbanded the, men have for several months past been agitating for the right to refuse to truck. The manager was willing to concede this point, but contended that if he d’.d the men should abate 3d a ton on the hewing rate. This, to our mind, brings the dispute to simply one of wages. That-some reduction .should have been agreed to as a quid pro quo for the trucking concession is indicated by the fact that the Miners’ Executive recommended the men .to, agree to a reduction of Id per ten. However, the workers refused to fall in with this proposal. Tho manager states. that to agree to the men’s demands, namely that the management should arrange to have the trucking done and the minors wages remain as at present, would result in the wages bill fop the mine going up £4OOO per year. In other words the men who are at present getting 14s a day of seven hours would he getting the same amount for doing less effective work. The manager would not give way and ho has evidently been backed up by the Minister the Hon. 11. McKenzie. The public, we fancy, will sympathise with the Department in the present instance. A weak featuie from tho men’s point of view is the fact that they have refused to place their case either with the Conciliation Commissioner or with the Arbitration Court. Instead they rely on force. Like the Newcastle miners in Australia they have chosen to strike just when the conditions appear favorable for themselves. At a time when merchants and coal user's all over the Dominion) are anxiously watching the state of the coal supply in view of the Australian scarcity, the loss of 1000 tons per day is a vitally important factor. Moreover, Parliament is sitting and past experience leads labor extremists to believe -that there is always something to be gained by judicious pressure on our politicians. One© concede the right to .strike and no one can blame the miners for selecting the most opportune time to win, buti.it wilLprobablybe found that in the presentv case they, -" have’assumed too much. As already pointed out, the dispute is really one of wages, and the public is likely to waste little sympathy over miners who have deliberately set out to disorganise - an industry at a critical period for the Dominion when their existing conditions are so satisfactory as appears to be,tile case. ' . It can scarcely be said that men who are .earning 14s .a-.'day. are badly paid, and . no .evidencehas been adduceu to show- that the conditions under ww 1: they work are such as to iriv-' vc undue hardship. As to the trucking, one would imagine that it is so essential a portionlof a miner’s work that he would naturally expect to take is turn at it. A jaymau would assume that- so long as the miner was getting 2s an hour,-he would not care whether his time'! went in hewing coni or in truck;• ing coal.' In any 'Case, the men .uiti tins work under the old agreement., apparently t without: any., evil results to : themselves or anyone else. If : the difference existing between .'the ' wtu.lv. rs and. the management e>u,M out lie settled .otherwise, one :>.i:d*.lv: ve expected that tlfe matter would ho one for-arbitration, bat to this the employ-. ees- steadfastly objected.' No one can : blame workers for insisting .that iheir wages and conditions of labor shall be reasonable and fair to themselves, but having conceded, -this,- some latitude must be left to ; employers to manage their '.business in the way that to them .seems . best. It is just herb where modern labor leaders step in and make trouble. Not content with having - : • , - ; •

! !v; ■:!' I wages, hours of labor, and other conditions fixed to suit themselves, they hamper the employer at every turn, . until he scarcely knows whether he has , any authority left. In the present inJ stance, they light-heartedly insist upon alterations that will cost the employer - £4OOO a year, and refuse to make the slightest concession in return. It is hard to say how the present trouble • will end. No doubt the men, individually, will claim the right to get work at other mines, but if the State i Department ventures to employ fresh hands, there will he such a hue-and-cry about blacklegs as will sound from end to end of tho Dominion, and probably bring about \ general stride of all miners. However, it Hvill never do ■ for the Government to knuckle under to those who are attempting to bully them into submission, and it is to be hoped some way will be found to show the malcontents that the only satis- ' factory method of getting grievances redressed is through the channels provided by the laws of the country.