Minto, New Brunswick: A Study in Canadian Class Relations Between the Wars

In and around the site of the town of Minto lie New Brunswick's only major coal deposits. From the Laurier period to World War II the district experienced a process of industrial development, accompanied by the emergence of a working-class community, dominated at the time of World War I by immigrant mine labour, later, by native-born workers drawn into the industry from the surrounding rural areas. Like colliers in Nova Scotia or the western regions, Minto's workers sought relief from the worst abuses of industrial-capitalist development through trade union organization. This met with fierce resistance from the employers, resulting in major coal strikes in 1920, 1926, 1934, and 1937-38. In Minto, however, a specifically political response, easily observable in other coal-mining regions was largely lacking. Radicalism in particular was weak, the political activity of Minto's workers being mainly confined to attempts to influence the policies and practices of the existing authorities. The paper attempts an explanation of the particular characteristics of Minto's working-class movement through reference to the interaction of local factors of culture and structure, and the evolution of the complex relationships between labour, business, and the state.