The strike of 1909 lasted from July 9, 1909 to April 28,1910. Although it officially ended on this date the mining operation continued to suffer since many of the striking workers were not immediately accepted back to work by the Company. According to some old miners the strike was not really as effective as they thought it would be. During the actual strike some of the workers returned to the mines with the result that the output and production of the Company was not in serious danger. The P.W.A. remained the official representative in the town but its days were numbered.

Since the incorporation of the mining industry the miner worked six days per week to a total of over seventy hours. He very seldom saw the light of day, worked in a dark and damp environment filled with foul air, rats, and other miscellaneous distresses When his work was finished he walked out into another kind of darkness with a grand total of one dollar and fifty cents for the day's labour. Sometimes it was less but seldom was it more during these initial years. Mine management pressured the miner to produce and their demands did much to incite the mining community. Bred to be honest and hardworking, he found it extremely difficult to abandon his responsibilities. To most of the miners the strike was a necessity, a time to show his disagreement with a company that controlled the majority of the community and to some degree the minds of some of the workers. The coal miners wanted a fair and just hearing and had no intention of provoking a violent end or reaction.

The miners who held out in the succeeding months faced severe economic hardships. The Inverness miners were given no choice but to accept a compromise that was favourable to the Inverness Railway and Coal Company. To the miner an injustice was committed and he decided to follow his conscience. Although the event and results were unpleasant the workers felt the need to stand up for their principles. This action made men feel like worthy individuals. It showed they were not pawns but people who would resist in the face of oppression.