District Executive of the United Mine Workers of America, 1909.
In 1909 the struggle between the P.W.A. and the United States-based U.M.W. of A. for support of the miners came to a head. During a major certification strike the most pervasive and protracted in Nova Scotia to that date the combined forces of the coal companies, the provincial and federal governments, and the militia supported the P.W.A. Even though the U.M.W. of A. appeared to have the support of a majority of mine workers the organization was forced to withdraw. In 1919, however, the miners' desires were finally realized and the U.M.W. of A., was acknowledged as their official spokesman, though neither the government nor the company was pleased with the idea of a more militant union.
The U.M.W. of A.'s success was in a large part attributable to the determination of some of the men in this photograph. James B. MacLaughlin (back row, extreme left) was perhaps the most outspoken of the early leaders. A recent immigrant from Scotland, where as a member of the miners' union he had been exposed to the ideas of socialist activists such as Kier Hardie, McLaughlin attempted to politicize the miners and nurture a class consciousness. Having exposed the exploitive nature of the coal industry, he demanded nationalization as the only way of ensuring a fair share of the profits for the miners. The British Empire Steel and Coal Corporation attempted to reduce wages following World War I but MacLaughlin, as Secretary-Treasurer of the U.M.W. of A., led a series of protracted strikes designed to keep wages at least at the wartime level. The resulting hostility, in which neither side won a clear victory, virtually crippled the industry.
