Canadian Mineworkers Union
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Mineworkers Union (CMU) was a Canadian
trade union
of coal
miners based in Cape Breton Island
, Nova Scotia
. Although it never won an election or legally represented workers, it was part of an important movement among Canadian unions in the 1980s to break away from their international American counterparts.
The CMU is distinguished from a local, independent union of the same name which existed at the Clinton Creek mine in the Yukon
. This local union, which existed from late 1972 into 1978, was formed when miners decertified the United Steel Workers of America and formed their own union.
in Nova Scotia were first organized by the Provincial Workmen's Association (PWA) in 1897. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) attempted to organize the miners and supplant the PWA in 1908. The two unions fought for control, but in 1917 joined forces and formed the Amalgamated Mine Workers of Nova Scotia. The Amalgamated affiliated fully with UMWA a year later. Miners were represented continuously by UMWA over the next 60 years, with strikes
exceedingly rare.
(DEVCO), seeking a 60 percent wage increase over two years. It was the first strike since the nationalization
of the Nova Scotia mines in 1967. But after a three-month-long strike in the spring of 1981, UMWA had little money left in it international union strike fund. The Nova Scotia miners were angry that UMWA was unable to support their strike, but nevertheless remained on the picket line. To support the strike effort, the local union organized a United Mine Workers Wives Association to raise funds and provide food, financial support, and other charity for strikers' families. The 13-week strike was a bitter one. When the Cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau
met in Sydney, Nova Scotia
, in early September 1981, striking miners forced their way onto the tarmac and cornered Finance Minister
Allan MacEachen
and External Affairs Minister
Mark MacGuigan
to demand an end to the strike. Three federal mediators attempted to negotiate an end to the strike, and three times the miners rejected tentative contracts (the last one proposing a 50 percent wage hike over three years). Vandalism against company property began in August, and quickly escalated. In mid-September, a bomb was detonated at a DEVCO mine and DEVCO coal rail cars derailed at DEVCO's Lingan mine in New Waterford
. A fourth federal mediator arrived just days after the bombings. The strike finally ended on October 3, 1981, with a tentative agreement which raised wages 50 percent over two years. The pact was ratified by the union a few days later.
Seething over the international union's inability to fund the strike, dissident miners attempted to organize their own union with the help and support of the Confederation of Canadian Unions
(CCU). Miner Archie Kennedy contacted CCU Secretary-Treasurer John Lang and asked for assistance. Lang dispatched organizers John St. Amand and Sue Vohanka to Cape Breton to organize a union. The attempt to decertify the United Mine Workers and replace it with a new organization was part of a larger movement among Canadian labour unions to split away from their parent American "international" unions. Widespread discontent existed over the amount of dues sent to union headquarters in the U.S. (many Canadian unions called them "profits") and the relatively minor attention given to the problems of Canadian workers in return.
The CCU founded the Canadian Mineworkers Union, and began an organizing campaign in late 1981. Roughly half the Cape Breton miners joined the CMU, forcing a federally-supervised union election. The Cape Breton miners voted 1,750 to 1,393 in March 1983 against affiliating with the CMU. The election was seen as a victory for UMWA president Richard Trumka
. Trumka had defeated incumbent Sam Church
for the international union presidency in the fall of 1982, and observers felt Cape Breton miners wanted to give the international union a second chance. But the CCU and CMU continued their organizing efforts. Member anger over the level of service given by UMWA remained high, and CMU forced a second election in March 1984. The miners rejected CMU a second time by a vote of 1,795 to 1,242. CMU's support declined quickly thereafter, as miners became disenchanted with the constant campaigning for votes.
The Canadian Mineworkers Union elected Donald MacLellan its National President at its founding convention. Dave Odo was elected Vice President, Joe MacNeil the General Secretary, and Allan MacDonald the Treasurer.
UMWA continued to represent miners on Cape Breton Island for the next 17 years. All the island's coal mines were closed in 2001, and the local union disbanded.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
miners based in Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. Although it never won an election or legally represented workers, it was part of an important movement among Canadian unions in the 1980s to break away from their international American counterparts.
The CMU is distinguished from a local, independent union of the same name which existed at the Clinton Creek mine in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
. This local union, which existed from late 1972 into 1978, was formed when miners decertified the United Steel Workers of America and formed their own union.
Miners' unions in Nova Scotia
Coal minersCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
in Nova Scotia were first organized by the Provincial Workmen's Association (PWA) in 1897. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) attempted to organize the miners and supplant the PWA in 1908. The two unions fought for control, but in 1917 joined forces and formed the Amalgamated Mine Workers of Nova Scotia. The Amalgamated affiliated fully with UMWA a year later. Miners were represented continuously by UMWA over the next 60 years, with strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
exceedingly rare.
1981 strike and formation
On July 17, 1981, 3,500 miners in the Cape Breton coalfields went on strike against the Cape Breton Development CorporationCape Breton Development Corporation
The Cape Breton Development Corporation, or DEVCO, was a Canadian federal government Crown corporation. It ceased operation on December 31, 2009, after being amalgamated with Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation ....
(DEVCO), seeking a 60 percent wage increase over two years. It was the first strike since the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
of the Nova Scotia mines in 1967. But after a three-month-long strike in the spring of 1981, UMWA had little money left in it international union strike fund. The Nova Scotia miners were angry that UMWA was unable to support their strike, but nevertheless remained on the picket line. To support the strike effort, the local union organized a United Mine Workers Wives Association to raise funds and provide food, financial support, and other charity for strikers' families. The 13-week strike was a bitter one. When the Cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
met in Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
, in early September 1981, striking miners forced their way onto the tarmac and cornered Finance Minister
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
Allan MacEachen
Allan MacEachen
Allan Joseph MacEachen, PC, OC is a retired Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a retired Senator, one of Canada's elder statesmen, and was the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.-Early life:Born in Inverness on Nova Scotia's Cape...
and External Affairs Minister
Secretary of State for External Affairs (Canada)
Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs was, from 1909 to 1993, the member of the Cabinet of Canada responsible for overseeing the federal government's international relations and the former Department of External Affairs...
Mark MacGuigan
Mark MacGuigan
Mark Rudolph MacGuigan, PC was a Canadian academic and politician.Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the son of Mark Rudolph MacGuigan and Agnes Violet Trainor, he was educated at Saint Dunstan's University, the University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School and Columbia University...
to demand an end to the strike. Three federal mediators attempted to negotiate an end to the strike, and three times the miners rejected tentative contracts (the last one proposing a 50 percent wage hike over three years). Vandalism against company property began in August, and quickly escalated. In mid-September, a bomb was detonated at a DEVCO mine and DEVCO coal rail cars derailed at DEVCO's Lingan mine in New Waterford
New Waterford, Nova Scotia
New Waterford is a Canadian urban community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.-Geography:New Waterford is located north of Sydney and northwest of Glace Bay. It is named after the city of Waterford, in Ireland. It is located near the ocean and is bordered on one side by cliffs...
. A fourth federal mediator arrived just days after the bombings. The strike finally ended on October 3, 1981, with a tentative agreement which raised wages 50 percent over two years. The pact was ratified by the union a few days later.
Seething over the international union's inability to fund the strike, dissident miners attempted to organize their own union with the help and support of the Confederation of Canadian Unions
Confederation of Canadian Unions
The Confederation of Canadian Unions, or CCU is a national trade union center, a central labour body in Canada.- Formation :...
(CCU). Miner Archie Kennedy contacted CCU Secretary-Treasurer John Lang and asked for assistance. Lang dispatched organizers John St. Amand and Sue Vohanka to Cape Breton to organize a union. The attempt to decertify the United Mine Workers and replace it with a new organization was part of a larger movement among Canadian labour unions to split away from their parent American "international" unions. Widespread discontent existed over the amount of dues sent to union headquarters in the U.S. (many Canadian unions called them "profits") and the relatively minor attention given to the problems of Canadian workers in return.
The CCU founded the Canadian Mineworkers Union, and began an organizing campaign in late 1981. Roughly half the Cape Breton miners joined the CMU, forcing a federally-supervised union election. The Cape Breton miners voted 1,750 to 1,393 in March 1983 against affiliating with the CMU. The election was seen as a victory for UMWA president Richard Trumka
Richard Trumka
Richard Louis Trumka is an organized labor leader in the United States. He was elected President of the AFL-CIO on September 16, 2009, at the labor federation's convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, from 1995 to 2009, and prior to that was...
. Trumka had defeated incumbent Sam Church
Sam Church
Samuel Morgan Church, Jr. was a coal miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1979 to 1982.-Early life:...
for the international union presidency in the fall of 1982, and observers felt Cape Breton miners wanted to give the international union a second chance. But the CCU and CMU continued their organizing efforts. Member anger over the level of service given by UMWA remained high, and CMU forced a second election in March 1984. The miners rejected CMU a second time by a vote of 1,795 to 1,242. CMU's support declined quickly thereafter, as miners became disenchanted with the constant campaigning for votes.
The Canadian Mineworkers Union elected Donald MacLellan its National President at its founding convention. Dave Odo was elected Vice President, Joe MacNeil the General Secretary, and Allan MacDonald the Treasurer.
UMWA continued to represent miners on Cape Breton Island for the next 17 years. All the island's coal mines were closed in 2001, and the local union disbanded.