Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada was a trade union
of lumberjacks in Canada
. LWIUC was founded in Sault Ste. Marie
1924 by Finnish communists, who were disatisfied with the Lumber Workers Industrial Union
of the Industrial Workers of the World
and the OBU
. The two founding national secretaries of LWIUC were Alfred Hautamäki and Kalle Salo, both Finns. A prominent figure in the founding of LWIUC was A. T. Hill, a former wobblie and the leader of the Finnish section of the Communist Party of Canada
. Overall, LWIUC maintained strong links with the Communist Party. Through the halls run by the Finnish Organization of Canada (an organization that was collectively affiliated with the Workers' Party of Canada, the legal front of the Communist Party), LWIUC rapidly gained thousands of members. The headquarters of the LWIUC were initially at Port Arthur
.
printing press until 1935.
. LWIUC undertook a militant mobilization campaign in north-eastern Ontario in 1927, an effort that enabled LWIUC to gain a strong presence at the White and Plaunt operations along the CNR line north of Sudbury. It also began to accept agricultural workers into its fold. By 1928, LWIUC had established branches in South Porcupine, Porcupine, Timmins
, Connaught and several seasonal logging camps.
to Onion Lake to mobilize union activity amongst workers at the Pigeon Timber Company. The company was managed by the subcontractor Pappi ('Reverend') Leonard Mäki, who opposed union organizing and had a conscious policy of mainly recruiting White Finns
. Rosvall and Voutilainen never returned, and in April the following year their bodies were recovered. Official reports stated that the men had died of drowning, but the LWIUC claimed that they had been murdered. Around 4,000 people participated in the funeral of Rosvall and Voutilainen in Port Arthur.
. The office of LWIUC was situated in Sudbury for a while. With the formation of WUL, the influence of the Communist Party over LWIUC became stronger. Within WUL Hautamäki's leadership was questioned, and the union was criticized for not launching strikes. However, successful strike actions were almost impossible to organize in northern Ontario until the logging industry had recovered in around 1933. At this point, LWIUC began a new wave of strikes and mobilizations. Now the union sought to recruit non-Finns into its fold, for which an English-language
publication was launched (The Lumber Worker) and a J. Gillbanks, an Anglophone communist from Lakehead
, was delegated to assist the union in organizing non-Finns. Through these efforts the membership of LWIUC was broadened significantly, gaining a strong presence amongst Swedes
, Slavs, English- and French-speaking Canadians and other groups. In 1934 the LWIUC office was moved to Timmins, with W. Delaney as its new president.
).
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 lumberjacks in Canada
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...
. LWIUC was founded in Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
1924 by Finnish communists, who were disatisfied with the Lumber Workers Industrial Union
Lumber Workers Industrial Union
Between 1915 and 1917, the Agricultural Workers Organization of the Industrial Workers of the World organized hundreds of thousands of migratory farm workers throughout the midwest and western United States...
of the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
and the OBU
One Big Union (Canada)
The One Big Union was a Canadian syndicalist trade union active primarily in the Western part of the country. It was formally founded in Calgary on June 4, 1919 but lost most members by 1922. It finally merged into the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956.-Background:Towards the end of World War I, a...
. The two founding national secretaries of LWIUC were Alfred Hautamäki and Kalle Salo, both Finns. A prominent figure in the founding of LWIUC was A. T. Hill, a former wobblie and the leader of the Finnish section of the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
. Overall, LWIUC maintained strong links with the Communist Party. Through the halls run by the Finnish Organization of Canada (an organization that was collectively affiliated with the Workers' Party of Canada, the legal front of the Communist Party), LWIUC rapidly gained thousands of members. The headquarters of the LWIUC were initially at Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...
.
Metsätyöläinen
LWIUC began publishing the monthly magazine Metsätyöläinen ('The Forest Worker') in December 1925, and it became an important mouthpiece of the Finnish-Canadian leftwing. The magazine was edited by Hautamäki. Metsätyöläinen was published by the VapausVapaus
Vapaus was a Finnish-Canadian communist newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario from 1917 to 1974. Vapaus, whose content was published in the Finnish language, was closely associated with the Finnish Organization of Canada, an organization connected to the Communist Party of Canada.The paper was...
printing press until 1935.
Organizational strengthening
During the latter part of the 1920s LWIUC managed to establish itself as the dominant lumber workers union in OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. LWIUC undertook a militant mobilization campaign in north-eastern Ontario in 1927, an effort that enabled LWIUC to gain a strong presence at the White and Plaunt operations along the CNR line north of Sudbury. It also began to accept agricultural workers into its fold. By 1928, LWIUC had established branches in South Porcupine, Porcupine, Timmins
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
, Connaught and several seasonal logging camps.
Rosvall and Voutilainen
In 1929 LWIUC sent out two organizers, Viljo Rosvall and John VoutilainenRosvall and Voutilainen
Viljo Rosvall and Janne Voutilainen were two Finnish-Canadian unionists from Thunder Bay, Ontario and members of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada who mysteriously disappeared on November 18, 1929...
to Onion Lake to mobilize union activity amongst workers at the Pigeon Timber Company. The company was managed by the subcontractor Pappi ('Reverend') Leonard Mäki, who opposed union organizing and had a conscious policy of mainly recruiting White Finns
White Guard (Finland)
The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...
. Rosvall and Voutilainen never returned, and in April the following year their bodies were recovered. Official reports stated that the men had died of drowning, but the LWIUC claimed that they had been murdered. Around 4,000 people participated in the funeral of Rosvall and Voutilainen in Port Arthur.
WUL period
In 1930, LWIUC joined the Workers' Unity LeagueWorkers' Unity League
The Workers' Unity League was created in 1929 as a labour central operated by the Communist Party of Canada on the instructions of the Communist International....
. The office of LWIUC was situated in Sudbury for a while. With the formation of WUL, the influence of the Communist Party over LWIUC became stronger. Within WUL Hautamäki's leadership was questioned, and the union was criticized for not launching strikes. However, successful strike actions were almost impossible to organize in northern Ontario until the logging industry had recovered in around 1933. At this point, LWIUC began a new wave of strikes and mobilizations. Now the union sought to recruit non-Finns into its fold, for which an English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
publication was launched (The Lumber Worker) and a J. Gillbanks, an Anglophone communist from Lakehead
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
, was delegated to assist the union in organizing non-Finns. Through these efforts the membership of LWIUC was broadened significantly, gaining a strong presence amongst Swedes
Swedes
Swedes are a Scandinavian nation and ethnic group native to Sweden, mostly inhabiting Sweden and the other Nordic countries, with descendants living in a number of countries.-Etymology:...
, Slavs, English- and French-speaking Canadians and other groups. In 1934 the LWIUC office was moved to Timmins, with W. Delaney as its new president.
Disbanding
In 1935, LWIUC was disbanded. This followed a shift in policy in the Communist International. The communists now abandoned the idea of forming militant trade unions, and began to work within the established mainstream unions. The workers previously organized by LWIUC joined the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union (a union affiliated to the American Federation of LaborAmerican Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. It was founded in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor association. Samuel Gompers was elected president of the Federation at its...
).