The Nova Scotia Coal Strikes of 1922 to 1925

The Nova Scotia coal strikes of 1922 to 1925 were a notable episode in working-class mobilization in Canada. During four successive years of strikes, Cape Breton coal miners demonstrated remarkable tenacity and courage in resisting wage reductions by the British Empire Steel Corporation (Besco). The miners drew on shared workplace and community bonds to “stand the gaff,” and their perseverance in the face of desperate living conditions and pressure from company police and military encouraged pride and a distinctive sense of shared identify in the mining communities of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. Affecting an industry deemed of strategic and economic importance, the strikes brought national attention to Cape Breton and forced the federal and provincial governments to consider more conciliatory labour policies, marking a turning point in Canadian labour.

In early 20th century, the rich coalfields of Sydney in Cape Breton and, to a lesser extent, Pictou and Springhill on the mainland, were a strong economic force in Nova Scotia, supplying the coal required for the province’s burgeoning steel mills. Nova Scotia miners, who by the 1920s were living in desperate conditions in company towns, were represented by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). In previous decades, the union fought for, and finally gained, recognition and the right to collective bargaining from coal operators. BESCO, formed in 1920-21, controlled all of the steel mills and most of the coal mines in the province. Having promised investors unrealistic profits during a time of declining demand for coal, BESCO sought to reduce the wages of miners, limit their ability to disrupt production through sudden strikes, and ultimately break up the UMWA.

The struggle between BESCO and the miners was intense. The corporation made repeated attempts to reduce wages and discourage work stoppages by placing restrictions on the traditional rights of miners to strike. The miners resisted, defending their collective bargaining rights, and gravitated towards the leadership of men such as J.B. McLachlan who advocated for confrontational tactics. In 1925, BESCO announced a 20 percent wage reduction and cut off credit at the company store, in an attempt to take advantage of unemployment and deprivation in the coal towns. The miners replied with a “100 percent” strike, which eventually resulted in violence when company police fired on strikers, killing one. In reprisal, company stores were looted and company buildings set ablaze.

The crisis led to the beginnings of a new provincial policy. After negotiating an end to the strike, the province began to encourage labour peace by recognizing the right of miners to unionize for certain limited ends, such as wage gains, while putting limits on radical labour action. This approach was eventually expanded to include most wage earners in Nova Scotia in 1937 and later stood as a model for legislation by other provinces and the federal government in the 1940s.

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