The first union in Newfoundland is thought to have formed on Bell Island in 1900 after the first strike there in 1896. In ‘Once Upon a Mine’ Wendy Martin referred to Little Bay’s miners as “forming a union of sorts” during the strike in 1883. I’ve uncovered evidence to make a stronger claim. The first union on the island was Little Bay’s Miners’ Union and it was officially established on May 4th 1883.

Recently I came across a newspaper I wasn’t familiar with. At this point in the work it’s unusual to discover a whole newspaper. It was called ‘The Newfoundland Express’ and it is currently hosted on a site called OldNews. I pay for way too many of these subscriptions (Patreon plug) so I wanted to see if I could extract all the Little Bay references within a 7 day trial period. It made for a busy week but resulted in a lot more information about Little Bay’s Miners’ Union. The references found revealed an earlier strike in 1879 and provided more info for 1883. There are still major gaps in my knowledge but I’ll tell you what I now know.

The first strike at Little Bay Mines occurred in 1879. That summer Baron Ellershausen left town on a trip. At the same time a notice of a reduction in wages was posted around town. The miners discovered this at the start of their shifts on July 1st. News reached St. John’s of a strike the following day and the Hercules was dispatched to Little Bay carrying onboard a police force sent to settle the labour dispute. Prior to their arrival, however, the miners were persuaded to accept terms.

Dissatisfaction with the wage reduction remained contentious among the men however and a few weeks later on the 18th a pamphlet was circulated around town which threatened any man who refused to leave work at lunch time that day to protest the pay cut. At this point we hit a dead-zone in reporting so I am unable to tell you what, if anything, happened that day at noon. What I can tell you is that when a better documented strike occurred in 1883 it was reported that Little Bay’s miners were “on strike again” which indicates one prior. I suspect this refers to 1879, however, reporting on a strike here is odd. The Evening Telegram makes no mention of it even while reporting on the departure of the very steamship bringing the police to it.

I have much more detail on the 1883 strike. It began on May 1st. At issue this time were contracts. Certain men had contracts for work in certain shafts and work was prioritized to those men. A mass layoff seems to have triggered the miners to strike over this. It started on the 1st. They were still on strike on the 4th when the Miners’ Union officially formed. At a meeting that evening Manager Wallace gave the union his approval and agreed that all men should be given equal share of available work. On May 7th a steamship full of policemen was once again dispatched to Little Bay. This time the ship was the Plover. The policemen onboard numbered twelve. Like before, however, the issue was settled on the same day that the police were dispatched and well before they arrived.

I can tell you that the Miners’ Union in Little Bay was not disbanded after the men returned to work on the 7th. The first union dues were paid on May 10th 1883. The following year on March 31st Sergeant Wells recorded rumours of a possible strike in the morning over wages. There’s no mention of this strike taking place but considering the presence of an organized Miners’ Union perhaps a threat sufficed.

That is everything I can tell you about the strikes at Little Bay mine. However, I can give you more details about the union. It was established on May 4th 1883. The first dues were paid on May 10th. It had over 300 members at its inception. And perhaps the coolest details – its seven bylaws are listed below:

1. Workmen employed by Newfoundland Consolidated Copper Mining Company must become members of this union
2. A person cannot become a member of the union until employed by the company
3. Members must pay fifty cents when joining the union and monthly dues of twenty cents
4. Dues are paid on the first Sunday after pay day each month
5. The management of the union consists of eight officers elected annually and assisted by an Investigating Committee: President, Vice-President, First Assistant, Second Assistant, First Treasurer, Second Treasurer, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary
6. The union will support any member with a just cause but not members discharged by their own fault
7. Only union members are allowed to work in this employ

I’ll close by pointing out that the celebrated and longstanding president of the union on Bell Island was born to parents who had moved there from Little Bay. You can find his wikipedia page here – David Ignatius Jackman.  I think there’s a good chance that the two miners’ unions were made up of many of the same man and can be seen as two parts of a shared history.

Thanks for reading!

Sources:

1879

• 1879, July 2 – Police dispatched to Little Bay on the Hercules to deal with strikers but situation calmed by the time they arrived (The Newfoundland Express, July 4, 1879).
• 1879, July 4 – Police sent on Hercules due to strike but situation since calmed (The Newfoundland Express)
• 1879, July 4 – Disposition to strike over small reduction. Police sent but men accepted terms so police dispensed with (Saint Johns Terra Nova Advocate and Political Observer)
• 1879, July 5 – Strike over reduction in wages. Ellershausen just left. Unknown if before announcement. Hercules on route with police. Strikes produce misery (Harbour Grace Standard)
• 1879, July 10 – Disposition to strike over small reduction. Men accepted so police unnecessary (Carbonear Herald)
• 1879, July 18 – A pamphlet was circulated threatening the lives of miners who refused to walk out at twelve o’clock that day. At issue was a reduction in wages. Men still at work at time of publication (The Newfoundland Express, July 18, 1879).

1883

• 1883, May 3 – Miners again on strike. Demand equal share of contracts. Wallace responds (Evening Mercury)
• 1883, May 4 – Wallace offers to break up one of the contracts (Evening Mercury)
• 1883, May 7 – The Plover dispatched with a dozen policemen. Miners are calm and reasonable (Evening Mercury)
• 1883, May 7 – The strike was resolved and work resumed (The Newfoundland Express, May 15, 1883).
• 1883, May 11 – Meeting between Wallace and miners. Wallace supports union. Father O’Flynn says its morally wrong to stop others from working (Evening Mercury)
• 1883, May 11 – Details on contracts and union fully established with laws and date of dues (Twillingate Sun)
• 1883, May 15 – A strike shut down mining work (The Newfoundland Express).
• 1883, May 15 – Strike went from 1st to 7th. Magistrate Blandford kept the peace. Contractors no longer at mine (Harbour Grace Standard / The Newfoundland Express)
• 1883, June 15 – Troubles at the mine long over (The Newfoundland Express)

1884

• 1884, March 31 – There were whispers of a upcoming strike for wages the next day (Wells, P.39).