At the start of the strike in March 1925, the corporation cut off credit at the company stores, and the coal miners survived on relief payments and donations from supporters as far away as Boston and Winnipeg.
[2] In commemoration of Davis's sacrifice, the United Mine Workers of America designated the day in his honour, with miners in Nova Scotia vowing never to work on June 11.
For the remainder of the 20th century, the pledge of never working on June 11 was maintained and Davis Day was observed as a quasi-civic holiday in most mining communities.
In 1994, 1996 and 1999, private members' bills to officially designate June 11 as Davis (Miners' Memorial) Day were introduced in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
In 2008 a private member's bill to officially designate June 11 as William Davis Miners' Memorial Day was introduced and passed.