Rossland Miners’ Union
2311.0134 - Miners' Union Day Celebration
Postcard of Miner's Union Day celebration on July 16, 1911. Showing on left, bandstand at Washington Street, intersection looking west of Columbia Avenue
British Columbia was a hotbed of labour activity at the turn of the century and Rossland was at the centre of it all! The discovery of high purity gold-rich veins in Red Mountain prompted thousands of miners and prospectors from all over the world to flock to its south slope, quickly turning it into a bustling mining camp. Rossland’s hard rock gold mines were challenging to develop and required significant capital investment to operate. Many American companies bought up the small, independent mine sites in BC, which attracted American miners in droves. These miners were usually transients, moving from bonanza to bonanza, typically working underground for 10-12 hours a day.
Miners from Colorado, Montana, and Idaho brought their experiences of organized strikes and fights for rights in such a dangerous industry. Efforts to have an eight-hour work day put miners at odds with mine owners who did not support that idea, and many strikes became violent. The United States witnessed nationwide organized strikes for shorter work days since May 1886. As the miners came up to Rossland seeking prosperity in the developing mining community, they brought a diversity of expectations about what miners rights should be across North America.
The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was established in the Coeur d’Alene district of Idaho in 1893. There, miners had struggled against brutal disregard of their demands for health and safety in frontier mining conditions. Unions developed through comradery among workers but were met with armed guards, martial law or deputy sheriffs exercising excessive force on behalf of mine owners. Rossland became the first international branch of the WFM - the first WFM branch in Canada, Local 38. Its district encompassed Sandon, Ymir, Kaslo, Rossland, Trail, Nelson, Silverton, Hedley and Phoenix. The WFM aimed to gain control over workers rights and be recognized as the bargaining agent for miners.
A union hall for WFM Local 38 was set to be built on Columbia Ave. and members assessed themselves a days wage to build it. It was designed by E.J. Weston using heavy timbers, reminiscent of those used in mine tunnels.
“There is no handsomer or more substantial a building of its character in the Kootenays than the new structure just being completed for the Miner’s Union on the west end of Columbia Ave. […] In point of strength and solidity, the building is second to none in the district, and is seemingly good for half a century of usefulness. ”
When it was completed in 1898, the miners took the day off to celebrate with contests, sports, and a dance. The hall was meant to serve as a meeting hall and multi-purpose community space - “...there were balls, political meetings, lantern slides and travelling vaudeville shows. Even funerals for men killed in the mines were held at the Hall,” notes the Rossland Miner newspaper. By 1899 there were around 1,300 members in Rossland’s WFM Branch.
The expansion of the WFM into Canada had a major impact on the Kootenays and union leadership was tested in an era of tension on both sides of the border. To be a union member was risky; you could easily be persecuted and blacklisted from the industry. The WFM strongly supported eight hour workday legislation. In the face of significant opposition, it succeeded in obtaining it in the USA, and worked to do the same in Canada. The Rossland branch was assisted by Joseph F. Martin, BC’s Attorney General, who quietly passed the eight hour work day legislation through the provincial legislature on February 27th 1899. Some mine owners were diligent in accepting the new legislature, but others cut wages or closed, and some faced strikes by their workers. Overall, mine owners were livid, and the Canadian Mining Institute lobbied to have it repealed. The eight hour work day was a statue that could neither be rejected nor upheld.
“Whereas: It has come to the notice of organized labour and the general public that the managers of the principal mines within the jurisdiction of the Rossland Union for the past fifteen months have been using every means in their power to force the labouring elements in their employ into industrial slavery.
Time and again those same managers have asserted that they have no grievance against organized labour, yet we find them all through the past year discriminating against active members of organized labour, and at present we see the M.&S. Union of Northport, Wash. locked out for no other reason than that they dared to organize to protect their rights.
Whereas: We the members of Rossland Miners Union, No. 38, W.F. of M. have reason to believe that this blow at the Northport Union is also aimed at the Union in Rossland and if they succeed in crushing the Union in Northport, we may expect to see a cut in wages within our camp in the near future.
Therefore be it resolved: That we the members of Rossland Miners Union No. 38 W.F. of M. in regular meeting assembled, extend to our Bros. in Northport out hearty co-operation and assistance. And be it further resolved: That we the members of a Union who believe that an injury to one is the concern of all believe that the time has arrived when we should act in concert with our Brothers at Northport. And be it further resolved: That it be the sense of this meeting that all members of our union who are not at present employed be requested to refrain from seeking employment from any of the mines within the jurisdiction of this Union and that those who are at present employed be requested to quit work until such time as the difficulties at Northport are adjusted and the carmen and shovellers within our jurisdiction receive three dollars per day and the managers of all mines within our jurisdiction agree that no discrimination be practised against Union men.”
In 1901, the Le Roi Smelter in Northport, WA shut down in protest to the threat of union formation at their site. When the smelter reopened, it only hired non-union members. Believing this to be yet another example of the “secret warfare” against unionism in the Kootenays, the smelter workers went on strike. The Rossland miners knew that if they kept sending ore down to the Northport smelter, they were supporting the anti-union smelter bosses. So, in July, 900-1000 Rossland miners went on strike in support of the smelter workers in Northport.
The crucial issues for the Rossland Miners’ Union were raising muckers wages from $2.50 a day to the regional standard of $3.00 a day, ending discrimination against union members, and solidarity for the Northport smelter workers.
Facing a united and unyielding front, mine owners reacted strongly and swiftly, importing strikebreakers to both Rossland and Northport, bringing a civil suit against the union, and patrolling with armed deputy marshals to create a stir. These acts only served to escalate the tension and made a bad situation worse.
Seeking justice and a resolution and with the closure of the smelter and collapse of mine production, the Rossland Miners Union reached out to the federal government for mediation; the government sent the Deputy Minister of Labour, William Lyon Mackenzie King, to Rossland in October of 1901.
Mackenzie King was convinced by mine owners and Rossland’s anti-union mayor that the WFM was anarchical and violent, and controlled by extremist Americans who did not represent the views of more moderate Canadian miners. Mackenzie King offered little help and suggested conciliation with no improvements offered to the union members. Incensed, WFM members refused to meet with him at the Miners Hall. After his futile week long efforts in Rossland, Mackenzie King left convinced the strike was hopeless, and being run by tyrannical American leadership. In his report in the Labour Gazette, Mackenzie King failed to mention the violation of the Alien Labour Act, being obstructed by the strikebreakers being brought in from America and elsewhere. He noted “it is useless to discuss a past condition of affairs which no longer concern us.”
The strike was long and brutal; the financial burden of this strike was a hardship to all involved and the need for settlement was clear. In January 1902, a resolution was reached. Although the mucker wage remained unchanged, the strike resulted in the introduction of labour legislation in BC, particularly the Trade Union Protection Act (1902) which protected unions from liability for employers’ financial losses incurred during a strike.
The Rossland Miners Union Hall is a testament to collective action and vision, and although it is no longer home to the Union, it is still a well-used community gathering space.
Sources:
Jordan, R. & D. Choukalos. Rossland: The First 100 Years. Harry Lefevre, with B.C. Heritage Trust, 1995.
Jordan, R. & J. K. Weir. “Echoes of the Past - Rossland Miner’s Union and Their Hall.” Commemorative Edition for the 10th Annual Cominco Chain Conference, prepared by the Rossland Heritage Society (RMDC Miners’ Union info file).
Mouat, J. Roaring Days: Rossland’s Mines and the History of British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1995.
Solski, M. & J. Smaller. Mine Mill: The History of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in Canada Since 1895. Ottawa: Steel Rail Publishing, 1984.
The Rossland Miner Newspaper. Collection of the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre.
For More Information:
Rossland Heritage Commission Official Heritage Register - Buildings: Miners’ Union Hall
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