The Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada was a
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 the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
of
lumberjacks in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. LWIUC was founded in
Sault Ste. Marie 1924 by
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
communists, who were dissatisfied with the
Lumber Workers Industrial Union
The Lumber Workers' Industrial Union (LWIU) was a labor union in the United States and Canada which existed between 1917 and 1924. It organised workers in the timber industry and was affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
H ...
of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
and the
OBU.
The two founding national secretaries of LWIUC were Alfred Hautamäki and Kalle Salo, both Finns.
[Saarinen, Oiva W. ]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place A Historical Geography of the Finns in the Sudbury Area
'. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1999. p. 194 A prominent figure in the founding of LWIUC was A. T. Hill, a former
wobblie and the leader of the Finnish section of the
Communist Party of Canada. Overall, LWIUC maintained strong links with the Communist Party. Through the halls run by the
Finnish Organization of Canada Finnish Organization of Canada (FOC, fi, Kanadan Suomalainen Järjestö) is a Finnish Canadian cultural organization. It was established in 1911 as the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada (''Kanadan Suomalainen Sosialistinen Järjestö''). FOC ...
(an organization that was collectively affiliated with the
Workers' Party of Canada, the legal front of the Communist Party), LWIUC rapidly gained thousands of members.
[ Iacovetta, Franca. ]
A Nation of Immigrants: Women, Workers, and Communities in Canadian History, 1840s - 1960s.
' Toronto .a. Univ. of Toronto Press, 1998. pp. 303-304 The headquarters of the LWIUC were initially at
Port Arthur.
[Abel, Kerry M. ]
Changing Places: History, Community, and Identity in Northeastern Ontario
'. Montreal; Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006. p. 174
''Metsätyöläinen''
LWIUC began publishing the monthly magazine ''Metsätyöläinen'' ('The Forest Worker') in December 1925, and it became an important mouthpiece of the Finnish-Canadian leftwing. The magazine was edited by Hautamäki. ''Metsätyöläinen'' was published by the ''
Vapaus'' printing press until 1935.
Organizational strengthening
During the latter part of the 1920s LWIUC managed to establish itself as the dominant lumber workers union in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
. LWIUC undertook a militant mobilization campaign in north-eastern Ontario in 1927, an effort that enabled LWIUC to gain a strong presence at the White and Plaunt operations along the CNR line north of
Sudbury. It also began to accept agricultural workers into its fold.
By 1928, LWIUC had established branches in
South Porcupine,
Porcupine,
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...
,
Connaught
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
and several seasonal logging camps.
Rosvall and Voutilainen
In 1929 LWIUC sent out two organizers,
Viljo Rosvall and John Voutilainen to Onion Lake to mobilize union activity amongst workers at the
Pigeon Timber Company. The company was managed by the subcontractor ''Pappi'' ('Reverend') Leonard Mäki, who opposed union organizing and had a conscious policy of mainly recruiting
White Finns. Rosvall and Voutilainen never returned, and in April the following year their bodies were recovered. Official reports stated that the men had died of drowning, but the LWIUC claimed that they had been murdered. Around 4,000 people participated in the funeral of Rosvall and Voutilainen in Port Arthur.
WUL period
In 1930, LWIUC joined 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 ...
. The office of LWIUC was situated in
Sudbury for a while.
[Saarinen, Oiva W. ]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place A Historical Geography of the Finns in the Sudbury Area
'. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1999. p. 195 With the formation of WUL, the influence of the Communist Party over LWIUC became stronger. Within WUL Hautamäki's leadership was questioned, and the union was criticized for not launching strikes. However, successful strike actions were almost impossible to organize in northern Ontario until the logging industry had recovered in around 1933. At this point, LWIUC began a new wave of strikes and mobilizations. Now the union sought to recruit non-Finns into its fold, for which an
English-language publication was launched (''The Lumber Worker'') and a
J. Gillbanks, an Anglophone communist from
Lakehead, was delegated to assist the union in organizing non-Finns. Through these efforts the membership of LWIUC was broadened significantly, gaining a strong presence amongst
Swedes,
Slavs, English- and French-speaking Canadians and other groups. In 1934 the LWIUC office was moved to Timmins, with W. Delaney as its new president.
Disbanding
In 1935, LWIUC was disbanded. This followed a shift in policy in the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
. The communists now abandoned the idea of forming militant trade unions, and began to work within the established mainstream unions. The workers previously organized by LWIUC joined the
Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union (a union affiliated to the
American Federation of Labor).
[ Iacovetta, Franca. ]
A Nation of Immigrants: Women, Workers, and Communities in Canadian History, 1840s - 1960s.
' Toronto .a. Univ. of Toronto Press, 1998. p. 311
References
{{Authority control
1924 establishments in Ontario
1935 disestablishments in Ontario
Defunct trade unions in Canada
Defunct trade unions in Ontario
Finnish-Canadian institutions
Timber industry trade unions
Timber industry in Canada
Trade unions established in 1924