![]() |
||
![]() ![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
||
Home>> Issues and Challenges>> Labour and Politics>> Unions>> Featured Article: The State and Labour Relations |
||
The State and Labour Relations | ||
By William N. T. Wylie
The state intervened repeatedly in labour relations because of the political sensitivity of the industry, and its perceived importance in the regional and national context. As we have seen in the chapter on labour-local, provincial and federal officials were all involved in discouraging work stoppages, insuring continued coal production, and, after 1918, also suppressing labour radicalism. In so doing, these officials revealed an enduring belief in industrial capitalism, tempered by a willingness to tolerate a unionized workforce pursuing moderate goals.
When dealing with labour radicalism, state official of all levels were inflexible. Believing the future of the established social and political order hung in the balance, they mounted a series of attacks on radicals, starting with the One Big Union, and continuing with the Communist Party, and other radical groups in the 1920s and 30s. The goal here was to crush radical unionists in order to preserve political democracy and the capitalist social order. The coal industry became a prime target because of its high profile and the extent of radical influence among its workforce. In 1919, as we have seen, the federal government was willing to support moderate unionism in order to thwart the OBU, negotiating an agreement excluding OBU supporters, and giving the more conservative United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) a "closed shop" in the industry. 2
William N.T. Wylie, "Coal-Mining Landscapes: Commemorating Coal Mining in Alberta and Southeastern British Columbia," a report prepared for the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Parks Canada Agency, 2001. See Also:
The Coal
Industry—Overview, Rapid Expansion,
Domestic and Steam Coalfields,
1914-1947: The Struggling Industry,
Collapse and Rebirth,
Settlement of the West,
Issues and Challenges—Overview,
Entrepreneurship, Technology,
Underground Techniques,
Surface Technology,
Surface Mining,
Social Impacts,
Unions,
1882-1913: Unionization and Early Gains,
1914-1920: Revolutionary Movement,
1921-1950s: Labour Unrest and
Setbacks, Mining Companies, People of
the Coal Mines,
The Middle Class,
Miners and Local
Government,
Politics and Economics ,
Environmental Impacts,
Health and Safety—Overview, The State and
Labour Relations,
The State and
Development after 1918 |
||
![]() |