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"They Didn't Starve Us Out": Industrial Cape Breton in the 1920s

For 200 years, coal mining had been a way of life in Cape Breton. By 1920 things were looking up: miners were unionized and paid decent wages. Then the British Empire Steel Corporation arrived and bought every single steel and coal company in Nova Scotia. BESCO cut wages by a third, setting off a bitter labour dispute. The miners settled in for a long strike. Finally, in 1925, the military ended the unrest with brute force. But the miners, in one sense, had won. They broke up the monopoly and provided an example to workers across the country.
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For 200 years, coal mining had been a way of life in Cape Breton. By 1920 things were looking up: miners were unionized and paid decent wages. Then the British Empire Steel Corporation arrived and bought every single steel and coal company in Nova Scotia. BESCO cut wages by a third, setting off a bitter labour dispute. The miners settled in for a long strike. Finally, in 1925, the military ended the unrest with brute force. But the miners, in one sense, had won. They broke up the monopoly and provided an example to workers across the country.

History - Canada - 1920-1945 Work and Labour Relations All subjects
  • director
    Patricia Kipping
  • producer
    Floyd Elliott
    Keith Packwood
  • script
    Patricia Kipping
  • sound editing
    Patricia Kipping
  • narrator
    Lulu Keating
  • music
    Ronald MacEachern
  • re-recording
    Roger Lamoureux
  • executive producer
    Douglas MacDonald
    Floyd Elliott
  • animation camera
    Raymond Dumas
    Pierre Landry
    Lynda Pelley

Education

Ages 14 to 18
School subjects
History and Citizenship Education - Civil Rights and Freedoms Social Studies - Labour Studies Social Studies - Social History Social Studies - Social Policies and Programs

Describe the working conditions in the coal mines of the 1920s. Why did the workers strike and then riot? What event led to the death of William Davis? How did the rest of Nova Scotia support the miners? How did the mine workers change the labour movement in Canada? Discuss the opening statement that owners and managers of the mines cared more about profits than people. Compare Canadian working conditions today to those of the 1920s miner in Cape Breton.

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"They Didn't Starve Us Out": Industrial Cape Breton in the 1920s
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