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CONCESSIONS
TO MINERS
Offers Made By
Mr. Curtin
CANBERRA. October 26.
New machinery for dealing with
disputes and preventing stoppages
in the coal industry will be set up
by the Commonwealth Government
as a result of a conference today
between Mr. Curtin and senior
Federal Ministers and representa
tives of unions engaged In coal
mining.
The Government Has given an
undertaking to consider the ques
tion of prosecution in respect to
stoppages to promote the smooth
working or the new conciliation
machinery
Today's conlerence with th?
mining unions will be followed to
morrow by another between F*de
ral Ministers and mine owners.
Mr.-Curtin announced tonight
that a proposal by the Miners' Fed
eration that the Central Reference
Board should be replaced by local
reference boards as the authority
to deal with local disputes has been
accepted.
The Government has agreed to
appoint a new Central Reference
Board to deal with matters affect
ing more than one district. It will
consist of a Government nomine*
as chairman and representatives of
the Miners' Federation and to*
mine management. It "will be as
sociated for administrative pur
pases with the Coal Commission.
The present Central Reference
Board is presided over by Mr. Jus
tice Drake-Brockman, who has
been repeatedly attacked by sec
tions of the miners and represen
tatives of the unions and mlns
management. The conference de
cided to retain the present Cen
tral Reference Board for marten
affecting the craft unions associa
ted witb the mining Industry.
Question Of Prosecutions
Mr. Curtin said that at the ur
gent request or the Miners' Feder
ation to assist the smooth work*
ing of the new industrial machin
ery and to enable the federation to
apply firmly its own dlsripltne, tb*
Government would consider taa
question of prosecutions for stop
pages. This would apply particu
larly to blanket prosecutions of an
employes at a colliery which be
came idle, even though som*
workers voted to continue at work.
The conference agreed on the
desirability of pit-top commicteea
being formed wherever needed. It
agreed also that tfee Taxation De
partment should examine the me
thod of collecting income tax on
miners' earnings. At the request
of the Government representative*,
the Miners' Federation will submit
proposals to the Coal CommiEsioa
on the development of open cut
working to increase coal output.
In the course of the conference
several \ representatives ol the
Miners' KederaHpn .^suggested .{h*
nationalisation of the coall£nu?
try. Mr. Curtin Is understood 1 to
nave pointtd TWt that the Com
monwealth Government lacks t>
general power to nationalis*
the Industry. and Oat a.
High Court ruling in an
other case makes it dear
that burdensome compensation
would have to be paid if the mine*
were taken over as a war mea
sure. Tb? nationalisation iasu*
was not pressed.
Mr. Curtin gave the conferene*
en assurance Out the health sur
vey would toe made in the mUunc
industry by the Federal Health De
partment to devise means for pre
venting occupational diseases.
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