Annie Buller addressing a crowd before the Estevan Riot

The Estevan riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in

Estevan Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History The ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

on September 29, 1931. The miners had been on strike since September 7, 1931 hoping to improve their wages and working conditions.

Background

The region's mining work was seasonal; during the rest of the year, between April and August, miners would work in the fields to supplement wages before they returned to the mines. However, the droughts in the prairies and the overall economic situation in Canada made that impossible. That led to an increasing number of men looking for work in the mines, which let mining companies to choose their workers. Furthermore, according to the Royal Commission that investigated the strike, Saskatchewan miners made half as much as their counterparts in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Most of the miners and their families lived within company housing. Annie Barylik, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a miner at Bienfait Mine,s described the conditions:

One bedroom, two beds in there, dining room, no beds in there, kitchen, one bed, and eleven in the family.... I think we need a bigger place than that. When it is raining the rain comes in the kitchen. There is only one ply of paper, cardboard paper nailed to about two-inch wood board.... It is all coming down and cracked... When the weather is frosty, when you wake up in the morning you cannot walk on the floor because it is all full of snow, right around the room.

The miners were represented at the bargaining table by the local of the Mine Workers' Union of Canada (MWUC), which had been organized by the

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

's trade union umbrella, the

Workers' Unity League The Workers' Unity League (WUL) was established in January 1930 as a militant industrial union labour central closely related to the Communist Party of Canada on the instructions of the Communist International. This was reflective of the shift in ...

Strike and riot

The Mine Workers' Union of Canada local in Bienfait demanded a wage increase, an end to the

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

monopoly, better living conditions, and improved workplace safety. The mining company refused to recognize the union as legitimate and refused their demands. On 7 September 1931, Bienfait coal miner's voted to go on strike.

Annie Buller Annie Buller (9 December 1895 – 19 January 1973), also known as Annie Buller-Guralnick, was a union organizer as well as co-founder of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) and manager of many CPC publications. Background Annie S. Buller was b ...

, working with the Workers' Unity League, spoke in nearby Estevan in support of the striking workers. On 29 September miners assembled in Estevan with their families to parade through the city in order to draw attention to their strike. As they walked from Beinfait to Estevan, they were met with lines of police officers. Upon entering the town square, the RCMP confronted the miners and attempted to block and break up the procession. Police violence broke out, and the RCMP opened fire on the strikers and killed three people and injured numerous others. Among those killed were miners Peter Markunas, Nick Nargan and Julian Gryshko. The following morning, 90 RCMP officers raided the miner's homes. 13 strikers and union leader were arrested on charges of rioting.

was sentenced to one year of hard labour, to be completed at the Battleford Jail, and a $500 fine. The RCMP involved with the killing of the miners were not charged. On 6 October, the mining company conceded to key demands including a $4 minimum wage, an 8 hour working day, reduced rent, and an end to the company store monopoly.

Resolution

After a meeting with Royal Commission Counsel, members of both parties signed the following agreement:

We, the mine operators and employees in conference at the court-house Estevan, this sixth day of October, 1931, hereby agree that the mines be opened immediately and the men return to work on following conditions, viz.:

(1) That this be considered a temporary arrangement pending the findings of the Wylie Royal Commission and the possible drafting of a working agreement between the operators and the men.

(2) That committees of employees for each mine be a recognized organization in each mine.

(3) That the provisions of the Mines Act be observed in relation to check-weighers.

(4) That all water in the roadways and working face be removed by the company and that such places be kept as dry as possible.

(5) That the terms of any schedule or agreement finally reached between the operators and the men be made retroactive to the date of re-commencement of work by them.

(6) That there shall be no victimization or discrimination against men on account of the strike, particularly in reference to men on the payrolls as at September 7 last.

(7) That contract men be employed on an eight-hour basis, face to face, and the company men work nine hours a day.

(8) That because of working conditions in the various mines. the removal of slack and questions of overweight be left to negotiations between the operators and the committees of employees.

Legacy

The event is still controversial in Estevan. The three striking miners killed have the inscription "murdered by RCMP" on their headstone, and locals still alternately erase and restore those words. The

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) is the Saskatchewan provincial trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving ...

has created a plaque to memorialize the strikers.

Popular culture

The riot was depicted in the controversial movie '' Prairie Giant: the Tommy Douglas Story'' in which

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

is falsely portrayed to be present. Also,

James Garfield Gardiner James Garfield Gardiner (30 November 1883 – 12 January 1962) was a Canadian farmer, educator, and politician. He served as the fourth premier of Saskatchewan, and as a minister in the Canadian Cabinet. Political career Gardiner was first elec ...

is portrayed as then being premier of Saskatchewan, but it was really

James Thomas Milton Anderson James Thomas Milton Anderson (July 23, 1878 – December 29, 1946) was the fifth premier of Saskatchewan and the first Conservative to hold the office. Early career Anderson was chosen as leader of the Conservatives in 1924 and was one of the pa ...

. The riot was depicted by James Keeleghan in the title track of the Small Rebellions album in 1990.

References

External links

Regina Leader Post Article on the Riot from the following day
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061203024109/http://cap.estevan.sk.ca/community/history/Mercury/Historical/riot/ 1931 strike in Estevan Mercury
A Paper discussing the Strike and Subsequent Riot

Review of ''Bienfait: The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggle of '31''
(Stephen L. Endicott, Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2002) by Lorne Brown, ''

Labour/Le Travail ''Labour/Le Travail'' is an academic journal which publishes articles on the labour movement in Canada, sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social inte ...

'' 52 (Fall 2003).
Estevan Coal Strike, Encyclopedia of SaskatchewanEstevan Strike and Riot, 1931, Oral History Centre (University of Winnipeg)
{{Authority control 1931 in Canada 1931 riots Communism in Canada Estevan Great Depression in Canada Protest marches Labour disputes in Saskatchewan Culture of Saskatchewan Riots and civil disorder in Canada 1931 in Saskatchewan 1931 labor disputes and strikes September 1931 events