United Mine Workers of America - Page 2      On August 16, 1922, the U.M.W. held an election of officers. Elected were: President, "Red" Dan Livingstone; Vice President, A.S. McIntyre; Secretary-Treasurer, James Bryson McLachlan; and International Board Member, Silby Barrett.      Another board was formed consisting of Dr. D'Ary Scott (Chairman); John E. Moore (Besco) and I.D. McDougall (Union) This board recommended a 15-cent-per-day increase.      Unlike the strike of 1909, this strike was very peaceful with the miners remaining in their homes. Despite this, in an attempt to destroy the unity that the miners had achieved, the Company asked that the militia be brought in. The press reported that 1,200 of His Majesty's Cavalry had been dispatched to Cape Breton and machine gun nests were set up around No. 2 Colliery.      Dan Livingstone and J.B. McLachlan were asked by Premier George Murray and Roy Wolvin (Roy the Wolf) to accompany them to Montréal for further negotiations. Some headway was made; some of the troops were withdrawn and maintenance men were allowed to enter the mines to prevent flooding and two mediators were appointed: G.S. Harrington and Dr. Clarence MacKinnon. A new agreement came about; the datal men received an increase as previously offered but the contract men were brought up to the Glace Bay rates by an increase of 52 cents per day. The eight-month strike was over and the men returned to work with an 18 percent wage cut from the 1921 rates. When commenting on the agreement, President Livingstone stated:      The wage schedule was accepted under the muzzles of rifles, machine guns and the gleaming bayonets with further threatened invasion of troops and warships standing to. The miners, facing hunger, their Dominion and Provincial governments lined up with Besco, the men were forced to accept the proposals.      Besco was to be faced with even more problems, when at the end of June 1923 the Sydney steel workers went on strike to gain union recognition. Premier E.H. Armstrong requested that, once again, the Provincial Police force be augmented to deal with the problem of the striking steel workers in Sydney. On July 1, 1923, a group of police attacked some people in the Whitney Pier area for no apparent reason. The police used their feet, hands, iron bars and horses to intimidate the crowd, which consisted mainly of women and children. The provincial police were soon joined by federal troops. In July 1923, Cape Breton miners went on a political strike, angered by the lavish use of armed force in the industrial area.      For their part in promoting the sympathetic strike the miners' president Dan Livingstone and secretary-treasurer J.B. McLachlan were arrested and jailed. Shortly afterward, the international union under the leadership of John L. Lewis deposed the entire union executive and took away the district's autonomy. No strike fund was received from the International, and A.S. McIntyre was left in charge. No miners would return to work until Livingstone and McLachlan were released and all charges against them dropped. McLachlan was later convicted for 'serious libel'; "the basic legal decision in McLachlan's case was that although what he had said might be true, his words were calculated to stir up unrest and therefore he was guilty as charged."      McLachlan and Livingstone were released on bail, but Silby Barrett, more conservative than the latter two, was appointed president of District 26 and followed orders from Lewis at the International. The men were ordered back to work by July 28th. It should be noted that Glace Bay Mayor Dan "Willie" Morrison was completely supportive of the strike.      With no relief, police patrolling, and McLachlan and Livingstone in jail on trumped up charges, the miners' spirit was extinguished. Movement back to the pits was slow but sure, with staunch supporters remaining out longer. By 1924, the autonomy of District 26 was restored, but Barrett had to revoke the charters of several lodges for refusing to back his leadership. He later quit his office and John L. Lewis appointed an American, William Houston, to take Barrett's place. He ran the office until August 24, 1924.      In January 1924, the miners' contract expired. The union wanted a new contract comparable to 1921 rates, but a notice of a 20 percent reduction in wages was posted for all miners, in addition to a large increase in the price of house coal. So although no strike was sanctioned by the International, the miners walked out.      Barrett took over the leadership of the strike, negotiating an agreement with the company and issuing relief to miners and families. An agreement was reached which raised wages for the men, but the miners' only effective weapon, the removal of maintenance men during strikes, was prohibited in the new contract. Also, they could no longer support the Labour Herald with union funds. This agreement was voted down by the members 5,617 to 3,145.      Barrett was asked to resign by the International, which also requested repayment of relief benefits which were spent illegally. The strike was later settled in April 1924.      By 1925, coal markets were growing soft because American coal was underselling Cape Breton coal in the Montréal markets. To offset this, Besco initiated a 10 percent wage reduction to the miners. Attempts at negotiations failed and on March 6, 1925, a strike was called. The Company then refused the men any credit in the Company Stores. The struggle was a hard and bitter one, and the separation of the two classes was widening. Vice President J.E. McLurg (Besco) made the statement:      "We hold all the cards ... they (the miners) will have to come to us ... they can't stand the gaff." This became a catch phrase for the miners and made the workers even more determined than ever to prove to McLurg and others that they could indeed, "stand the gaff."      Hard pressed merchants continued to give credit, fishermen contributed their catch, the British Canadian Co-operatives donated 500 dollars. In Boston expatriate Maritimers formed a Cape Breton Relief Committee. This time, sympathy and support seemed to be on the side of the miners and their families. The Company and their government friends would soon see the result of this support.      The town of New Waterford was especially hard hit by the strike. The town's water supply and electrical needs all came from New Waterford Lake, a few miles from the town and Besco police had control of this location. Besco police terrorized the people of New Waterford by charging through the town on horseback. On June 11 approximately 3,000 infuriated men and boys gathered at New Waterford and made their way towards the power plant. They were met at the site by approximately 100 armed police and the so-called Battle of Waterford Lake took place. Police were hauled off horseback and beaten, while others jumped in New Waterford Lake and swam to the other side. The police began to fire their revolvers and three of the miners were shot. Gilbert Watson was shot in the stomach, Michael O'Handley was shot and trampled by horses and William Davis was fatally wounded in the heart. The miners overtook the police and marched them back to town to jail. Later, they were hurried to Sydney for safety. The men were driven to this action because their supply of water and power to their homes and schools was cut off. Soon after, however, the affair was pushed aside and forgotten.      A provincial election that year saw the defeat of Armstrong's Liberal government. The Conservatives under E.N. Rhodes met with Besco President, Roy Wolvin and J.E. McLurg on July 16. The police force was subsequently withdrawn, the wage scale was reduced to the 1922 level (a reduction of between 6 percent to 8 percent), the Corporation received a rebate of 1/5 of the coal royalties paid to the province for a 6 month period. On August 5 the miners voted 3,913 to 2,780 to accept the Rhodes Proposal.      The strike had lasted for 155 days, and J.B. McLachlan rationalized the suffering of the miners this way: "Under capitalism the working class has but two courses to follow: crawl - or fight."

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