80 COALFIELDS AXD COLLFKiKIKjS OK AUSTRALIA. 



variations which modify the amount. These variations are 

 not uniform all over New South Wales, for different customs 

 prevail in different districts, and even the conditions mav 

 vary in collieries of the same district. The following remarks 

 may help to make these points clearer. 



On the Southern coal-field there are two rates ; one for 

 screened the other for unscreened coal, but both are based on 

 the average selling, price of the best screened coal, which is 

 determined half-yearly, in June and December, by an 

 accountant agreed to by the employers and employes ' 

 union, or, should they fail to agree, then by an 

 accountant appointed by the Arbitration Court. The price 

 thus found is the basis of pay for the ensuing six months. In 

 the Maitland district the average selling price of best round 

 coal is also taken as a basis in most of the collieries, but in 

 the Newcastle district it is not the actual selling price, but the 

 declared selling price of the best round coal that is the basis. 

 Kvery September the employers meet and determine what the 

 nominal selling price of coal shall be for the ensuing twelve 

 months, commencing in January of the following year. This 

 price is adhered to, no matter whether a mine produces first, 

 second or third rate coal. Should the colliery proprietors sell 

 their coal for less than the declared value, the men are paid 

 on the declared value all the same. 



A minimum hewing rate is fixed, say about 2s. per ton, 

 when the price of coal is, say, Ts. Should the selling price 

 fall so low as ro leave no profit, the proprietors still have to 

 pay the minimum rate or close down, for it is recognised that 

 the men must make a living wage; on the other hand, the 

 mine-owners do not wish to waste a valuable asset by selling 

 their coal at a loss. Should the selling price go above the 

 figure decided on, then there is a sliding scale, on which the 

 men are paid; in the Southern district this is at present 2d. 

 in the shilling variation of the actual average selling price ; in 

 the Northern districts they pay on '6d. or 3d. variations. 



At one time the miners filled a good deal of coal by fork, 

 but now that there is a better market for slack, it is mostly 

 shovel-filled, and subsequently screened. Fork-filled coal is 

 paid for at a higher rate than shovel-filled, so as to allow for 

 the slack left behind. When the slack from fork-filled coal is 

 wanted, a miner is paid only for filling it, and the miner who 

 made the slack has the right to fill it, if still working in that 

 cavil. When coal is screened, the men are paid in full for 

 the round coal, but are only given a nominal sum for the 

 slack. When coal is shipped unscreened, the miners are paid 

 the price of round coal for the gross weight, less, say, 20 



