In the end, the UMW prevailed, but the strike left bitter feelings between the local and the international union.
[1] The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) attempted to organize the miners and supplant the PWA in 1909.
[2] The two unions fought for control, but in 1917 joined forces and formed the Amalgamated Mine Workers of Nova Scotia.
[2] In 1920, the British Empire Steel Corporation (BESCO) took ownership of all coal mines on Cape Breton Island.
[6] The economic viability of the Cape Breton mines declined significantly to the point that they were only operable because of federal government subsidies.
[4] Wages became a major issue as the 1980-81 recession and double-digit inflation eroded a miner's buying power.
[9] Nova Scotia judge Nathan Green wrote a conciliation report in spring 1981 recommending an $8.50 (roughly $26 CAD in 2023) per day raise, each year, over a two-year contract that DEVCO accepted.
[9] However, when District 26's president, Ray Holland, brought it to a ratification vote on July 7, the rank and file members rejected it 1,954 to 827.
[11] When the Cabinet of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau met in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in mid-September 1981, striking miners forced their way onto the airport tarmac and cornered Mark MacGuigan and local Member of Parliament Russell MacLellan to demand an end to the strike.
[12] Three federal mediators attempted to negotiate an end to the strike, and three times the miners rejected tentative contracts (the last one proposing a 50 percent wage hike over three years).
The strike finally ended on October 8, 1981, when a tentative agreement which raised wages 50 percent over two years was ratified.
[21] On September 13, 1999, DEVCO's Lingan Phalen mine was abruptly closed a year early because of safety concerns making 430 miners jobless.