1908 Blackball miners' strike
When Blackball township was established, the mining company provided low-quality living and working conditions for the miners and after the town became populated by immigrants with union experience overseas, some of the grievances that eventually resulted in the strike emerged.
This was the first real challenge to the Arbitration Court, set up under legislation by the Liberal Government in 1894 to support mediation in industrial disputes, and highlighted the difficulties of getting a resolution because of the wide range of political, social and cultural factors that resulted in a degree of intransigence by both the miners and the mine company.
It had been driven previously by agriculture and from the 1860s, by gold mining, but to meet the demands of the shipping trade, finance was needed for infrastructure and investment in public works such as improved railway networks.
While this created dependence on an imperialistic relationship with Britain that was built on heightened loyalty, the investment in public works enabled the practical development of the coal mining industry.
The accentuation of class and regional differences in the interests of financial gain, however, contributed to later industrial relations conflicts that led to actions such as the 1908 Blackball Miners’ strike.
A writer in New Zealand Geographic noted that "shareholders in Christchurch and London had reason to feel confident, with confirmed demand for 100,000 tonnes of coal per year and a colonial government which boasted internationally of a strike-free record among workers".
[6]: p.5 There is documentation that shows around 50 per cent of the residents in 1908 were likely to have been descendants of settlers from the coalfields of England, some of whom would have had a background in British unionism [and] "a commitment and determination to improve conditions in the workplace".
The writer continues that immigrants from coalmines in Scotland were said to have brought an independence to struggles with capitalist employers and less of an inclination to develop "partnerships between capital and labour".
[1]: pp 70-71 A third group of immigrants came from Ireland, some via the gold mines in Australia, and they appear to have been able to adapt well to the "casual nature of employment that prevailed in Blackball".
[1]: p.81 Historian Erik Olssen notes that in 1904, after losing a significant amount of money in previous years, the Blackball Mining Company dismissed all the miners, later to re-employ half of them.
[7] The Blackball Miner's Union had been formed in 1899 and was registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, with their award agreement entitling them to only 15 minutes for their 'crib' or lunch break.
On 27 February Hickey, Webb and five miners who were members of the recently formed Socialist Branch, also refused to accept the 15-minute break, and all were dismissed by the manager Walter Leitch.
At that meeting Hickey spoke strongly about "poor ventilation, violation of the Coal Mines Act, and the refusal of government inspectors to enforce the law."
[10] The 1894 Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act was drawn up by William Pember Reeves in an attempt by the Liberal government in New Zealand to avoid future strikes such as the 1890 Aucklander Watersiders' action in support of a dispute in Australia.
[12] Some powerful unions disliked losing the right to strike and employers opposed judges making decisions about wages and working condition, "instead of relying on the labour market".
[14]: p.19 It is a measure of how influential Hickey was, that after he provided information to the Westland Trades and Labour Council, they concluded on 4 March 1908, that the miners had been treated unfairly and strongly criticised the methods used by the Arbitration Court.
Following the stand taken by the Westland Trades and Labour Council on 4 March 1908 against the way the Arbitration Court had conducted its processes during the Blackball strike, McCullough, very aware of the mood of the miners.
Despite trying unsuccessfully to remove Samuel Brown, Scott remained an influential advocate for employers in the Arbitration court and initiated actions that became a "major concern" for McCullough.
[1]: p.144 One writer holds, that the Blackball miners may have had some cause to be cynical about Sim because early in the strike at an Arbitration hearing, he "announced 15 minutes adequate for 'crib' before adjourning for an hour and a half for luncheon".
When Stead made an offer to pay half of the money levied on the miners as a fine, McCullough suggested to the unions that they should respond courteously to this and compromise their position regarding the demands around the hours for truckers.
These included requiring unions and employers in industries classified as essential services, "such as those supplying water, gas, electricity or coal" [to give] "advance notice of any strike or lockout".
Despite the amendments some unions refused to return to the arbitration system and many of them, "made up of large groups of workers who relied on each other in difficult and often dangerous conditions", supported the establishment of the first Federation of Labour.
One point made by historian Melanie Nolan in her critique of the historiography of the strike, is that the perspective and experience of the women in the struggle has not been adequately acknowledged or understood.
Her claim is that the strike has been seen as primarily a political phenomenon and does not consider the role of socio-economic issues underpinned by class-based determinants resulting in wages that were inadequate to meet the rise in the cost of living.
[16]: p.21 In February 2008, it was announced that, beginning on 21 March with a "series of events including book launches, a parade, a seminar and a theatre presentation", Blackball would mark the centenary of the strike.
