“Under capitalism the working class has but two courses to follow: crawl or fight” – JB McLachlan
By Doug Nesbitt
Today is Davis Day in Nova Scotia. William Davis was a coal miner shot and killed June 11 by company police during the 1925 Cape Breton coal miners’ strike. The miners were fighting against a 20 percent wage cut imposed by the British Empire Steel and Coal Company (BESCO), the largest corporation in Canada at the time.
For several years before the 1925 strike, BESCO had been locked in a massive battle against the coal miners and against the Sydney steelworkers fighting for union recognition. BESCO routinely used police, the military and the courts to smash the workers’ efforts. One of the leaders to emerge out of these struggles was the legendary JB McLachlan.
BESCO provokes strike
The 1925 strike started because BESCO was seeking a 20 percent wage reduction. This was followed up by BESCO cutting off all credit at the company stores to starve the miners and their families into submission. The miners responded with an “all-out” strike, meaning pumping operations would be shut down and the mines would flood.
Miners also controlled the New Waterford power plant and pumping station which kept water and power flowing to communities. On June 4, BESCO company police seized the power plant and cut off the power and water. On June 10, miners marched on the plant and convinced the company scabs to give up control.
William Davis is murdered
Determined to punish the miners, a hundred company police attacked unarmed residents in New Waterford. They were soon confronted by an army of 3,000 miners. The company goons charged and opened fire, killing Davis, but were overwhelmed by the miners.
The murderers, many of them beaten and bloodied, were thrown in the town jail only to be rescued by BESCO police the next day. On June 14, 5,000 attended Davis’s funeral and the union established a fund for Davis’s wife and ten children.
Military occupation serving corporate power
At the request of the company, 2,000 troops were quickly dispatched from Halifax, placing Cape Breton under military occupation. It was the largest domestic military operation since the 1885 Northwest Rebellion. Militant miners were blacklisted, a ten percent wage cut imposed, and the powerful miners’ union weakened massively.
The BESCO police officer who murdered Davis, Harry Muldoon, was quickly relocated to Boston with his family and he escaped justice. The Crown also dropped charges against Joseph MacLeod who was also charged for the murder.
The following year, June 11 1926, Davis Day began as coal miners refused to work and marched instead. It was not recognized as an official holiday until 1969.
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