Inverness Miners' Museum
Inverness, Nova Scotia

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The Broken Ground: A History of a Cape Breton Coal Mining Community

 

 

Interview with John Angus MacNeil by Gregory Doyle

Q. How long have you been a resident of the Inverness area?

A. I've lived here all my life except when I was overseas. I enlisted in the army in 1914 and I was in the army until 1919. I'm going on Eighty Seven now.

Q. Were the mines a major working force in the area?

A. It was the only place where you could get employment.

Q. To your remembrance did the mine owners treat the workers very well?

A. Oh, I think so. It was a new project and of course there wasn't very much demands made on them. We didn't have much of a union.

Q. Could you relate any facts or details about the mine strikes in 1909 and 1933?

A. Well in 1909 the strike was called to get recognition of the UMW (United Mine Workers). Prior to that they had what was called the provincial workman's association, in short PWA. The people got wise to the PWA, it wasn't a miners union it was more or less a company's union. It was of no benefit to them. As they got wiser and saw how proud they were working and how low the wages were they thought they would better themselves. This wasn't pertaining to Inverness at all, it was all over… Glace Bay, Pictou County, and Springhill. They formed an executive committee and they applied to the International in the U.S. to send in an organizer. The organizer came in and it was no different at all. They joined a hundred percent… all the miners joined. Then they made an appeal to the company and the government to get recognition. They were turned down. The only thing that was left for them to do was to strike. All the miners in the province went on strike. The company got strike breakers in from all over. They were scared the strikers would injure the strike breakers. They appealed to the government to get troops. There was a battalion of soldiers, 200 strong, sent in to guard the strike breakers. Well, after awhile, when the people saw that it was a lost cause they started drifting back. It continued on for about two years and they finally gave up their stand. They lost that strike that was in 1909. Then the war broke out and around 1909 they got recognition of the UMW. They got that without much of a struggle. Through time things got a little better… they got the eight hour day. In 1933, that strike wasn't called off for a wage increase or anything like that. Previous to that it appeared that Inverness was going to be a ghost town and something would have to be done. A committee went to Halifax to intercede with the government. There was a committee appointed in Halifax to form a board. This board was supposed to operate the mine on a co-operative basis. It wasn't working at all. The people were not happy with the situation. A strike was called. The strike was called to do away with the board. This was a very nasty strike. Brothers and friends who were close weren't close any more. It was a nasty affair for a long time. In fact, I think the sting is still in the air today. The government eventually stepped in to discontinue the board. There was an election called and Angus L. MacDonald's government was put into power. They took over the day to day operation of the mine at a terrific cost. The cost of production was awful. The rest of the people of the province of Nova Scotia were angry because they felt the government was throwing money down the drain. The government continued to operate the mine. Finally, the government realized the operation of the mine was futile and they had to give it up. A fellow by the name of Will MacDonald from Sydney took over the top pillars of mine #1. He did operate it very successfully, getting the pillar work, extracting the pillars out of the top level. He opened out what we call #2, the little mine over there and #5. Probably when it was all gutted out he was losing money. He pulled out of Inverness and he went to Port Hood for awhile and opened a mine there. That was about the end of the coal mining in Inverness. That was the cause of the 1933 strike.

Q. Do you think the miners accomplished anything by striking?

A. No. It doesn't matter how much you win over the strike. The time that you lose, the money you lose you'd take a hell of a long time to get back where you were before the strike. In my mind, a strike never pays, never accomplished anything.

Q. For the workers living in the company houses what rent was paid?

A. I think it was $1.25 a month.

Q. Who built the company houses?

A. Mackenzie and Mann.

Q. How many houses were built?

A. The first houses were built on Central Avenue across from the liquor store, there was ten houses built at that time. When more people started coming to work in the mines, there was an enormous demand for houses that started coming to work in the mines; there was an enormous demand for houses that they started to build what they called the Red Rows. When that was built then started building up at River Street.

Q. How many men were employed in the various mines in the area?

A. Well um #1, the railroad was connected to the #1 mine. When the #1 mine opened they started the railroad. They built the railroad from the street down to Inverness. At the peak, there were 750 people on the payroll.

Q. Did the mines improve when the government took over?

A. No, the mines didn't improve. I wouldn't say it was the government's fault because the mine was deteriorated so much before the government took it over. The companies that was operating the mine, they were getting the cheapest coal they could, you know. When they got away from that that cost of a ton of coal got higher. As they got further away from the haulage way the cost a production was getting higher. The government spent a lot of money to maintain the mine trying to keep the town of Inverness from becoming a ghost town.

Q. Did the workers get any higher pay when the government took the mine over?

A. No. Well, I don't think they did. It stayed around the same because the mine was losing money. The people in the rest of the province wouldn't stand for it.

 

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