Introduction

The Onset

The Chinese Strikebreakers

Imported Strikebreakers

Traitors

The Fallout

The Fallout

The riots that took place in August of 1913 only hampered the strike effort. Many prominent UMWA organisers whom people believed had fomented the strikers’ anger into violence, were jailed for up to two years. Canadian military troops were sent in to further police the protesters.²¹

"Ladysmith. Strikers being marched off to jail, 1913" BCARS E-01194

"Extension Officers of No. 1 Company, 58th Regiment used to combat strikers , 1913" BCARS D-03291

The Big Strike lasted until July 1914, when the UMWA could no longer afford to pay the strikers. The Vancouver Island miners had drawn national attention to their plight, but they had failed to achieve the recognition of their union. Furthermore, the coal companies "blacklisted" most of the strikers, preventing them from working in their mines again. The dispirited members of District 28 soon disbanded.²²

The strikebreakers also faced hardships following the strike. While some of them were able to continue working, many were also blacklisted for having participated in the strike at some point. Regardless, many former strikebreakers could not find work in the coal mines because fuel oil had come into use as an alternative to coal.²³  

Perhaps most distressing of the hardships faced by the strikebreakers, was the disgrace. They and their families would be remembered as "scabs" in their communities for many years to come. As one Cumberland man observed seventy-five years later, "It’s not remembered who was on strike mostly, what’s remembered is the guys who worked. And they’re never forgotten. Everybody knows them."²⁴