SUBSEQUENT CORRESPONDENCE. (Hansard, 24 February 1919)

§ Mr. WARDLE

The miners' claim in regard to wages is for au advance of 30 per cent. on earnings plus war wages,i.e., 30 per cent. on the earnings resulting from the ordinary operation of the sliding scales, with the war wage of 3s. per day in addition. In addition, the miners have put forward the following claims:

(a) That this Conference demands that all demobilised mine-workers shall be fully discharged from the Army and Navy, and, as soon as they are able, and desire, to resume work, shall be reinstated in the mines they left at the time of enlistment.
(b) Any such mine workers not able to perform a normal day's work shall be paid the full wages appertaining to the grade to which they belonged, or would have belonged had they not enlisted.
(c) Demobilised men who are partly disabled and unable to follow work in the mines shall be trained for other suitable occupation, and paid during training an allowance equal to what they would have earned in or about the mine had they not been disabled. The allowance to continue after training until suitable employment is found. The cost of training and allowance to be at the expense of the State.
(d) Demobilised mine-workers and men who are displaced to make room for men returned from the Army or Navy shall be paid, from State funds, an out-of-work allowance equal to the wages they would have earned had they been employed in and about the mines.
(e) In no case shall wages or allowance interfere with pensions to which such discharged soldiers and sailors are, or may be, entitled.
(f) All matters coming within the above proposals shall be first dealt with by the joint pit committees of mine-owners and mine-workers, and, if necessary, be submitted to the district joint committee.
(g) In order to make easier the realisation of these demands we press the Government to amend the Mines Eight Hours Act so that "six" hours shall be substituted for "eight" hours in that Act. Also for this purpose and in the interests of miners in particular, and the community in general, we urge the Government to proceed at once to the nationalisation of all mines and minerals.

The following reply on behalf of the Government was given to the miners' representatives on 10th February:

I. Wages and Hours.
1. 1. The requests which were put forward by the miners' representatives on 9th January to the Controller of Coal Mines, and on the 31st January to the President of the Board of Trade, the Home Secretary, and the Minister of Labour, have been submitted to Government and have received careful consideration.
2. 2. The Government view with sympathy the desire of every body of workers for an im- 1385 proved standard of life, and they recognise that there are many matters connected with the present conditions of work in the coal industry which are exercising the anxious attention of the miners. The Government accordingly welcome every opportunity of obtaining from the duly accredited representatives of labour the fullest possible statement of their views and suggestions upon the questions in which they are interested. But in considering increases of cost in the trades whose products form the staple of other occupations, attention must be paid to the consequences upon the workers in other industries and the general trade of the nation.
3. 3. The proposals which have been put before the Government by the miners' representatives in relation to wages and hours fall into two categories. On the one hand a decision can be given immediately on the claim for increased wages in so far as it is based upon the increased cost of living. On the other hand, the general claim for an increase of wages and the demand for a reduction of hours and for the nationalisation of the mines, are so important, having regard to their effect upon the whole industrial position of the country and the daily life of the entire community, including the miners themselves, that investigation and inquiry are necessary to their due determination.
4. 4. The Government propose, therefore, that there should be an immediate addition to the war wage now payable to the miners calculated to meet the increase in the cost of living since the last advance was given in respect of increased cost of living. As the result of exhaustive discussions between the Government and the railway employés last year, the conclusion was reached that a rise of four points in the percentage of increase in the cost of living, as set out in the "Labour Gazette," should be represented by an addition of a shilling per week to the war wage. This arrangement can be put into operation forthwith in the case of the coal miners—the figures for June, 1918, when the coal miners received their last advance, being taken as the datum line—and the Government are prepared to authorise the payment to the coal miners and surface workers of the appropriate advance as from a given date, adjusted in accordance with the figures as at 1st February, 1919.
5. 5. With regard to the other questions, which, as has already been explained, affect not only the coal trade, but also the whole industrial life of the community, the Government intend to establish at once a strong representative Committee, on which the miners will be asked to nominate their own representatives, to inquire into the matters raised and the position of the coal trade generally.
6. 6. The terms of reference to the Committee will be sufficiently wide to include the consideration of— 1386
  1. (a) Wages and hours of the various grades of colliery workers;
  2. (b) Any inequalities which exist between different grades of employés as regards wages and hours;
  3. (c) The cost of production and distribution of coal, and the general organisation of the industry;
  4. (d) Selling prices and profits;
  5. (e) Any scheme that may be submitted to or formulated by the Committee for the future organisation of the industry, whether on the present basis or on the basis of joint control, nationalisation, or any other basis;
  6. (f) The effect of any of the proposals under the above heads upon the development of the coal industry and the economic life of the country;
  7. (g) Mining royalties and way leaves.
7. 7. The Committee will be instructed to proceed first with the questions of wages and hours of labour, and to submit to the Government as soon as possible interim Reports on these subjects.
8. 8. In making this reply to the proposals of the miners' representatives the Government wish the miners to accept it as a clear indication of their intention to meet in every possible way the interests of the men in the coal industry; and the full co-operation of the Miners' Federation is sought for the purpose of securing a complete investigation into the whole matter with the least possible delay.
II. Demobilisation.
1. 9. The Government would point out that the claims made by the miners in connection with demobilisation, if granted, would put the miners in an exceptional position compared with the rest of the citizens of the country.
  1. (a) The first claim is for complete discharge on demobilisation, whereas all other soldiers are technically kept in the Reserve in order to provide for any possible emergency in connection with the peace negotiations.
  2. (b) It is demanded that a mine-worker not able to perform a normal day's work is to have the full wages that he could have earned in the grade to which he belonged at the time of enlistment, or might have obtained had he not enlisted. This does not seem to refer to men disabled or partly disabled, because these are dealt with in the next claim, and therefore it would appear to be asked that every miner is to be guaranteed the full earnings that in any circumstances he might have hoped for, irrespective of the amount of work done.
  3. (c) It is claimed that a partly disabled man unable to work in the mines should be trained for another occupation, and, during the period of training and until suitable employment is thereafter found for him, is to receive the full wage he might have earned in the mine. In the ordinary case of a disabled soldier receiving training the amount of benefit is 33s. per week, with certain allowances in the cases of men who have families.
  4. (d) It is claimed that a man displaced from the mines to make room for a returned 1387 soldier shall receive as out-of-work allowance the full wage which he was earning in his occupation at the mine. No suggestion is made as to terminating this allowance or as to its being contingent upon his failing to obtain work in his previous employment or otherwise. At present the out-of-work donation to men of other trades who are demobilised, either from His Majesty's Forces or their war occupations, is 29s. per week for a certain number of weeks and is contingent upon a failure to find work elsewhere in a suitable occupation.
2. 10. These demands must obviously be considered in relation to the general question of demobilisation, and the considered view of the Government is that it is impossible to give to miners on demobilisation different terms from those which are applied to all the other workmen of the country. A suggestion, however, has been made that joint pit committees should deal with the finding of employment for any miner who may be unemployed, and with effecting arrangements whereby miners entitled to out-of-work allowances shall be enabled to obtain them without calling daily at the Employment Exchanges. The Government approve of this proposal and are prepared to arrange the detailed machinery necessary for this purpose.

The reply was considered at a National Conference of Miners held at Southport on the 12th and 13th February. On the 13th February the following communication was sent to the Minister of Labour:

DEAR SIR ROBERT,

We beg to inform you that the reply of the Government to the proposals of the above Federation as stated before you on Friday, 31st January, has been fully discussed both by our Executive Committee and by a National Conference, held at Southport on the 12th and 13th.

The reply was considered as not providing an answer to our claims, nor conceding any of the principles embodied in our proposals. It was, therefore, unanimously decided that the reply could not be accepted, and in consequence the Conference unanimously passed a resolution instructing the members of the Federation to take a ballot vote to determine whether a stoppage of work should take place to secure our demands.

If the Government, through you, have any further suggestions to place before our Federation, our Executive Committee will be ready to meet you to discuss them.

We beg to remain,

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) ROBERT SMILLIE, President.

(Signed) FRANK HODGES, Secretary.

Sir Robert Horne sent the following reply:—

17th February, 1919.

DEAR MR. SMILLIE,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 13th February, which I got on Saturday, the l5th inst.

In reply I have to say that the Prime Minister along with myself will be glad to receive you and the Executive of the Miners' Federation at the earliest possible opportunity; and since 1388W your Executive is necessarily scattered throughout the country, making it difficult to meet earlier, I would suggest that the meeting should take place at 10, Downing Street, on Thursday, the 20th inst., at 11.30 a.m.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) Robert S. Horne.

The miners' reply to this letter was as follows:—

18th February, 1919.

DEAR SIR ROBERT,

We are in receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, and in confirmation of Mr. Hodges' telephonic communication to your Department this morning, we beg to state that the purpose for which you desire a meeting between yourself and our Executive Committee is not fully stated in your letter. In point of fact, in our communication to you of the 13th instant, we said, "If the Government have any suggestions to place before our Federation our Executive Committee will be ready to meet you to discuss them." There is, however, no indication in your letter that you have any suggestions to put before us, and in order to decide whether or not our Executive shall be called together we shall be glad if you will state specifically whether or not you have any suggestions to place before us.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) ROBERT SMILLIE, President.

(Signed) FRANK HODGES, Secretary.

Sir Robert Horne replied in the following terms:—

18th February, 1919.

DEAR MR. SMILLIE,

I am in receipt of your letter of to-day's date.

When I replied to your letter of the 13th February, in which, after refusing the Government's proposals, you expressed the readiness of your Executive to meet the Government to discuss any suggestions which the Government might have to place before your Federation, there were two questions upon which it was thought that a meeting with your Executive would help towards a solution.

(1) In your published statement in reply to the Government's proposals dealing with your formulated claims, you stated that you did not accept the figures of increased cost of living upon which the Government based its offer to the miners of an addition of 1s. per day on their wages.

That seemed to the Government to be a matter upon which an agreement might readily be arrived at if there was an opportunity of talking it over. The Government had made it plain that whatever the just amount was they were prepared to concede it. Your letter of 13th February opened up a way for arriving at a conclusion upon this question and of getting rid of one point of difference.

(2) As you have no doubt learned from the public Press, the Government had decided to go forward with the Committee of Inquiry in connection with the mining industry, including the further question of wages, and the Committee will be asked to report upon the questions of wages and hours by the 31st day of March.

The Government desire to discuss with you the composition of the Committee and the terms of reference, etc.

1389W

These are the matters upon which the Prime Minister, along with myself, will be glad to meet you on Thursday, and I trust that you will arrange for your Executive to come as proposed.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) ROBERT S. HORNE.

The following reply was received the same day from the Miners' Federation:

DEAR SIR ROBERT,

We are in receipt of your letter of to-day's date, containing the suggestions which the Government propose to place before us, if our Executive Committee meet the Prime Minister and yourself on Thursday of this week.

The nature of the suggestions is such that we consider that the Executive itself should decide whether any good purpose would be served in meeting you to discuss them. The Executive meets on Thursday morning at ten o'clock, and your communications will be placed before it immediately the sitting begins. We hope to be able to send you a definite reply before eleven o'clock on that day, so that we may meet you at eleven thirty if the Executive so decide.

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) ROBERT SMILLIE, President.

(Signed) FRANK HODGES, Secretary.