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Using union, government, and company records, as well as interviews, this article explores the origins of one of the most notorious industrial disasters in Canadian history - the deaths from industrial disease of some two hundred fluorspar miners on the south coast of Newfoundland. It explores the social, economic, and political forces that shaped the hazards they believed were destroying their health and the response of industry and the state to those efforts. Central to the account is a series of strikes that took place during 1941 and the actions of a government tribunal appointed to settle the dispute. Setting events at St. Lawrence in the context of some of the theoretical and methodological considerations intrinsic to the study of occupational health as a labor relations issue, this article not only adds to the knowledge of the forces that shaped this particular disaster but also represents a contribution to a neglected area of Canadian labor and working-class history.
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In 1933, an American entrepreneur offered the people of St. Lawrence, a small town on the south coast of Newfoundland, the prospect of escaping rampant unemployment and meager public relief by starting a mine to extract the area's vast deposits of fluorspar, which is used in the manufacture of steel, aluminum, and various chemical products. Coming in the context of the Great Depression and the collapse of the fishing industry, the mining industry was eagerly embraced by residents of St. Lawrence and surrounding communities. Several mines were subsequently established, by both the original American company, the St. Lawrence Corporation of Newfoundland, and later by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan). The fragile prosperity that accompanied the industry from the 1930s until closure of the last Alcan mine in 1978, however, exacted a heavy price. Many St. Lawrence workers lost their lives to industrial diseases caused by dust and radiation in the mines. -- This thesis explores the history of industry, labour, and health and safety at the St. Lawrence mines. This study focuses on the struggle by workers and their union for recognition of workplace hazards, improved working conditions, and adequate compensation for industrial disease victims and their families. The thesis argues that, rather than being passive victims of an unavoidable tragedy, workers at St. Lawrence were aware of the adverse health impacts of their work from the very early years of mining, and fought constantly over several decades to have their concerns addressed. Furthermore, the thesis argues that the disaster which ultimately unfolded at St. Lawrence was primarily the result of industry and government authorities ignoring or downplaying legitimate concerns and thereby shirking their moral and legal responsibilities.
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Discusses the federal Liberals' majority win under Jean Chrétien and its implications for the other political parties.
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In July 1997, the CAW-backed workers at nine Vancouver Starbucks outlets became the first "barristas" in North America to secure a collective agreement with the trendy, Seattle-based international coffee giant. On the first anniversary of that historical union drive, Labour/Le Travail spoke with 25-year-old-Laurie Banong, Starbucks employee and union activist, about organizing young service sector workers, working with the CAW, and what trade unionism means to her. --Editors' introduction
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