Bienfait: The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggle of '31 (review)

Severe social distress had befallen Bienfait, Saskatchewan, in 1931. The Depression struck at the same time that the coal mined there garnered a lesser price at market. When a new strip mine opened, the five hundred deep-seam miners underwent a 10 to 15 per cent wage cut to remain 'competitive.' The miners were not organized, owing in part to company vigilantism, but they had legitimate grievances. They appealed to the Regina Trades and Labour Council as well as the Conservative provincial government, but were ignored by both. Communism became an easy sell for the town because of the deteriorated living and working environment. Communists pitched the merits of the Workers' Unity League, which was designed to exploit radical elements of existing groups such as craft or business unions. Their goal was to create revolutionary industrial unions. After a seemingly wrongful dismissal at the Bienfait mine, the miners joined the Mine Workers Union of Canada and created Local 27. The union attempted to negotiate, but the coal operators refused, causing a strike. The issues were wages and union recognition. The coal operators brought in strikebreakers, apparently to 'open' the mine. It was clearly an attempt to bestir the miners, as there were not enough strikebreakers to operate the mine. The Mounties remained placid throughout this initial ordeal. During the lead-up to the strike, the strip mine was not interrupted.

The strip mine was modern, efficient, and fast and threatened to steal the deep-seam miners' share of the market. The owner of the deep-seam mine, John R. Brodie, eliminated credit at company stores and began evictions from company houses. A parade was considered, to encourage a local collective spirit. Town council ruled against it, but the organizers found a loophole and proceeded. After a simple arrest, a fight broke out and the police began shooting. Three miners died, dozens were wounded and trials began soon after. The state attempted to rig the jury, tamper with evidence, and even pay witnesses to lie. In the post-trial days, harsh legislation was passed to penalize radicals. The gains won during the strike were short-lived, as coal operators systematically violated almost every point of the agreement.

This is a brilliant story, start to finish, which outpaces most works of Canadian working-class historical fiction. Endicott's account contains three working-class heroes, corrupt coal operators, and even crooked Mounties. Because it is a true story, it packs a powerful pedagogical punch. In Cape Breton, the shooting of coal-miner William Davis has also spawned a great deal of working-class folklore and oral traditions. The book is a testament to the way memory is maintained, including the way its markings and memorials have been contested across time. The murders of coal-miners Nick Nargan, Julian Gryshko, and Peter Markunas by Mounties continue to be struggled over. Endicott's interpretation highlights both the ingenuity and the tragedy of working-class struggles.

Several points about the text should be addressed. After reading Bienfait, one has the feeling that formal protest was the only means of criticism and the sole method to achieve solidarity. The book presents a narrow snapshot of working-class culture in contest and creation. Sport and leisure are just one concept that could have been weighed and measured carefully in reconstructing a working-class town. What did the miners do between protests and meetings to recreate social cohesiveness? There is also a lack of coverage of the agricultural interests in the story. Did the surrounding farmers help, hinder, or ignore the strikers? Endicott talks of one farmer allowing a mining family to work a portion of his field for subsistence purposes. Was this the exception or the rule? Furthermore, the second chapter, which deals with memory and research in the post-communist era, belongs elsewhere and extinguishes the flow from chapter 1. In...