Objective Conditions Endured by Canadian Labourers
Due to the growth of industrialism and the spread of the factory system, factory workers endured very poor working conditions, working 10 or even 12 or more hour long workdays, for 6 days a week, inside factories equipped with very poor ventilation, fraught with much clamor from the large, clunky machines used, and made filthy from the pollution of the machines, among other factors.3 These already-poor, early factory workers could be fined for such minor infractions as idle chatter or arriving late for a shift.3 Another notably horrific (with regards to working conditions) occupation was mining. Mining at the time, was a highly dangerous occupation due to the everlooming threat of a potential collapse or an explosion, such as the Springhill, Nova Scotia mine explosion of 1891, which killed some 125 miners.4 Not only this, but the possible presence of highly-flammable methane gas5 was a danger considering the lanterns used, for example, and the presence of toxins in coal dust could potentially cause conditions such as silicosis or black lung.4 The wages for such dangerous work could be staggeringly low: Cape Breton miners could work 12 hour days and earn some 70 cents a month.6 In both these lines of work and in others, no workers compensation was provided for injuries sustained during work.3 As a result, work-related injuries could prove quite devastating for the impoverished labourers and their families. The table below depicts just how many work-related injuries were occurring during the latter portion of this half-decade:7
Table 1: Number of injuries by year
Year | Number of Injuries |
---|---|
1939 | 180,979 |
1938 | 183,103 |
1937 | 212,022 |
1936 | 150,363 |
1935 | 140,451 |
1934 | 125,454 |
1933 | 95,966 |
1932 | 111,331 |
1931 | 117,625 |
1930 | 134,098 |
1929 | 155,086 |
1928 | 123,030 |
A troubling detail is the fact that a significant number of children during this time served as labourers: about 68% of all boys between the ages of 14 and 19, in 1921, and the number of young children (10 -- 14 years of age) in the labour force increased from 13 000 in 1891 to 20 000 in 1911.8 This increase in young labourers could likely be attributed to the growth in urban population at this time: from 17% in 1867 to close to 50% in 1920, as this would see the movement of children in to industrial areas, and thus provide them with job opportunities in these settings.8Children could even be found working in highly-hazardous settings such as mines (some as young as 9 years old, according to early 20th century Cape Breton miner -- Matthius Tutty).6 Also likely contributing to these significant numbers is the fact that between 1867 (the year of Canada's confederation) and the 1920s, some 80 000 young children were brought from Britain by those wishing to provide them with a better life amongst rural Canadian families.8 Unfortunately, plenty of these children became workers of some sort.8 The following is an interview with a young cigar maker by the name of Stanislas Goyette (featured in the 1889 Royal Commission on the Relation Between Labour and Capital), which may provide a personal insight into this issue:9
Q. Mr. Goyette, you are a cigar maker?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old are you?
A. Twenty years old.
Q. At what age did you begin your apprenticeship
A. At the age of fourteen...
Q. Did you pay any fines during your apprenticeship?
A. Yes, sir; that is never wanting...
Q. Were you ever beaten during your apprenticeship?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old were you?
A. I might have been fourteen or fifteen.
Q. Who beat you?
A. The foreman.
Q. Why did he beat you?
A. For all sorts of reasons.
Q. You do not remember why?
A.... it was oftenest because I would not work after regular hours.
Q. Did he strike you with his hand, his fist or some tool?
A. With whatever he had in his hand. He balked at nothing.9
Q. Mr. Goyette, you are a cigar maker?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old are you?
A. Twenty years old.
Q. At what age did you begin your apprenticeship
A. At the age of fourteen...
Q. Did you pay any fines during your apprenticeship?
A. Yes, sir; that is never wanting...
Q. Were you ever beaten during your apprenticeship?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old were you?
A. I might have been fourteen or fifteen.
Q. Who beat you?
A. The foreman.
Q. Why did he beat you?
A. For all sorts of reasons.
Q. You do not remember why?
A.... it was oftenest because I would not work after regular hours.
Q. Did he strike you with his hand, his fist or some tool?
A. With whatever he had in his hand. He balked at nothing.9
Throughout this half-century, worker salaries remained quite low, as described above, and illustrated in the following table:10
Table 2: Average annual income of production workers (in dollars)
Year | Annual income ($) |
---|---|
1939 | 975 |
1938 | 956 |
1937 | 965 |
1936 | 896 |
1935 | 870 |
1934 | 830 |
1933 | 777 |
1932 | 844 |
1931 | 950 |
1930 | 995 |
1929 | 1 041 |
1928 | 1 021 |
1927 | 994 |
1926 | 999 |
1925 | 967 |
1924 | 973 |
1923 | 961 |
1922 | 941 |
1921 | 999 |
1920 | 1 090 |
1919 | 920 |
1918 | 870 |
1917 | 760 |
1910 | 417 |
1905 | 375 |
To emphasize how low salaries were, I shall present this fact: in 1901, the approximate cost of living was about $13.38 per week; however, the average worker earned only about $8.25.3 Although indeed terribly low, salaries were even lower for female labourers: an average female worker in 1911 would earn about 52.8% of the income gained by a male labourer, and young girls in this time could work for 60 hours a week, yet earn some 2 cents per hour.11 As a result of the low wages, working-class residents of Canadian cities often lived within slum-like settings.12 A Montreal doctor --
Toussain Stephen Langevin, said the following regarding housing in the working-class Montreals Plateau Mont-Royal area: "I visited some truly needy families. It was a tearful sight to see those six, seven or eight children, almost naked in a frigid home, heated by a stove filled with old papers, those beds without mattresses, a single flannel blanket on the springs. It is easy to understand why all of these children, born during this nefarious period, were influenced physically and morally by mothers who were exhausted, hungry and too often, demoralized."12
During the Great Depression which commenced in 1929, with the stock market crash, there was a 25% unemployment rate.13 In response to the fact that unemployed men would often leave their families in order to easen their financial difficulties (benefits for families would cease after their children reached the age of 16) and roam in search of job opportunities, Prime Minister Richard Bennett developed Unemployment Relief Camps for these men to work in.13 These camps provided 2 dollar a day salaries at first, in 1931.14 By 1933, this was reduced to 20 cents a day after the Department of National Defence was given control of the relief camps.14 The occupants were provided with meals, places to sleep and work clothing.14 A work day was 8 hours long14 and 6.5 days of the week were spent working:13 often on construction projects such as roads, airports and parks.14 These camps were often poorly-heated, featured limited facilities for recreational activity and food of a poor-quality.14 Also, the camps were often placed distant from urban areas and society.14 A quote from Matt Shaw, a camp occupant, adequately summarizes the pain of being a habitant of such desolate camps: "The biggest quarrel was working for 20 cents a day, eight hours a day with nothing ahead of us but a blank wall, day in and day out."14
Toussain Stephen Langevin, said the following regarding housing in the working-class Montreals Plateau Mont-Royal area: "I visited some truly needy families. It was a tearful sight to see those six, seven or eight children, almost naked in a frigid home, heated by a stove filled with old papers, those beds without mattresses, a single flannel blanket on the springs. It is easy to understand why all of these children, born during this nefarious period, were influenced physically and morally by mothers who were exhausted, hungry and too often, demoralized."12
During the Great Depression which commenced in 1929, with the stock market crash, there was a 25% unemployment rate.13 In response to the fact that unemployed men would often leave their families in order to easen their financial difficulties (benefits for families would cease after their children reached the age of 16) and roam in search of job opportunities, Prime Minister Richard Bennett developed Unemployment Relief Camps for these men to work in.13 These camps provided 2 dollar a day salaries at first, in 1931.14 By 1933, this was reduced to 20 cents a day after the Department of National Defence was given control of the relief camps.14 The occupants were provided with meals, places to sleep and work clothing.14 A work day was 8 hours long14 and 6.5 days of the week were spent working:13 often on construction projects such as roads, airports and parks.14 These camps were often poorly-heated, featured limited facilities for recreational activity and food of a poor-quality.14 Also, the camps were often placed distant from urban areas and society.14 A quote from Matt Shaw, a camp occupant, adequately summarizes the pain of being a habitant of such desolate camps: "The biggest quarrel was working for 20 cents a day, eight hours a day with nothing ahead of us but a blank wall, day in and day out."14
Analysis of a Historical Photograph
![Picture](/uploads/1/6/5/4/16543504/9964022.jpg?324)
Fig. 2: Humberstone Coal Mine, Edmonton, Alberta.15
The photograph on the left was taken in Edmonton, Alberta, within the Humberstone Coal
Mine. The image is of an unidentified coal miner (likely in his late 20s or early 30s judging by his facial hair and build) utilizing a pick axe to extract hunks of coal from a wall of coal, a daily occurrence. There are no other people in this image. The coal miner pictured is surrounded by various objects: a mine cart filled with coal hunks, on metal rails, various coal rocks scattered about, and a shovel lying atop one such pile. The man in the photograph is wearing overalls, a loose-fitting, white (but dirty) shirt, boots (probably leather) and a helmet.15
The photograph itself appears to have been intended to be published in some form of publication designed to expose poor working conditions in businesses e.g. The Labour Gazette. This hunch is based on the fact that the miner is not paying heed to the camera, implying that this is intended to capture daily life. In many other photographs which I observed of miners, the subjects were all paying attention to the camera. The conditions surrounding the miner seem incredibly miserable: it is dark, drab and visually-uninteresting around him, the ceilings are quite low (just over a foot above him), the environment itself seems quite claustrophobic, and the miner himself has a look of depressed, weary resignation on his face, implying a sad, repetitive existence punctuated by the fear of a potential catastrophe. Additionally, the piles of coal lying about make this mine seem like an unstable environment wherein an accident is imminent and wherein dust and toxins abound in the air.15 Although this image is quite troubling to me, I imagine that it would not have elicited much of a reaction at the time, considering the widespread poverty, high unemployment rates, and the horrific working conditions encountered by many.
The Humberstone coal mines were introduced in Edmonton, Alberta, by Torontonian William Humberstone, around 1880. Initially, the mines operated during winter and coal bricks were developed during the summertime.16 In 1896, Humberstone increased the scale of his mining operation by employing more labourers.16 His new operation had an annual output of about 700 tonnes of coal.16 In 1898, Humberstone was forced to provide his labourers with better working conditions, by the Territorial Deputy Commissioner of Mines.16 One year later, he introduced another safe exit and an improved ventilation shaft to his mine.16 By around 1900, William Humberstone became the largest provider of coal in Edmonton e.g. he sold an outstanding 16 tonnes in December of 1901.16 In 1916 and 1917, his mines became largely mechanized, especially in a newer operation which was introduced in 1916.17 This mechanization contributed to a major output -- 100 000 tonnes in 1917 alone. Even with the introduction of this mechanization, certain mines continued to utilize pickaxe mining techniques.17
This image is representative of poor working conditions at the time, due to a number of reasons, most regading what the worker is lacking but should have. Firstly, the worker pictured is not wearing any gloves to protect him from the sharp tools around him or jagged hunks of rock, among other objects. Secondly, the worker's helmet (it might not even be a helmet; rather a cap) appears to be quite thin and would likely offer no protection from falling coal chunks (in the case of a minor collapse, for example). Thirdly, the miner is not wearing any form of mask (to protect him from toxic particles in the atmosphere, and thus help prevent black lung and other such conditions), or protective eyewear (potential injuries could result from rock shards projected by his pickaxe), or anything to cover exposed skin on his arms or neck . Fourthly, the piles of scattered rocks about the worker could potentially cause injuries i.e. he could trip, or cut himself on a jagged rock -- the whole work environment seems quite dangerous. Fifthly, judging by the piles of coal around him, and how full the mine cart is, this worker appears to have been toiling for quite some time. Considering how exposed he is, this seems like a nerve-wracking and terrible experience (the thought of being in an environment featuring a potentially dusty and toxic atmosphere, and which is unnaturally dark is quite atrocious).
Mine. The image is of an unidentified coal miner (likely in his late 20s or early 30s judging by his facial hair and build) utilizing a pick axe to extract hunks of coal from a wall of coal, a daily occurrence. There are no other people in this image. The coal miner pictured is surrounded by various objects: a mine cart filled with coal hunks, on metal rails, various coal rocks scattered about, and a shovel lying atop one such pile. The man in the photograph is wearing overalls, a loose-fitting, white (but dirty) shirt, boots (probably leather) and a helmet.15
The photograph itself appears to have been intended to be published in some form of publication designed to expose poor working conditions in businesses e.g. The Labour Gazette. This hunch is based on the fact that the miner is not paying heed to the camera, implying that this is intended to capture daily life. In many other photographs which I observed of miners, the subjects were all paying attention to the camera. The conditions surrounding the miner seem incredibly miserable: it is dark, drab and visually-uninteresting around him, the ceilings are quite low (just over a foot above him), the environment itself seems quite claustrophobic, and the miner himself has a look of depressed, weary resignation on his face, implying a sad, repetitive existence punctuated by the fear of a potential catastrophe. Additionally, the piles of coal lying about make this mine seem like an unstable environment wherein an accident is imminent and wherein dust and toxins abound in the air.15 Although this image is quite troubling to me, I imagine that it would not have elicited much of a reaction at the time, considering the widespread poverty, high unemployment rates, and the horrific working conditions encountered by many.
The Humberstone coal mines were introduced in Edmonton, Alberta, by Torontonian William Humberstone, around 1880. Initially, the mines operated during winter and coal bricks were developed during the summertime.16 In 1896, Humberstone increased the scale of his mining operation by employing more labourers.16 His new operation had an annual output of about 700 tonnes of coal.16 In 1898, Humberstone was forced to provide his labourers with better working conditions, by the Territorial Deputy Commissioner of Mines.16 One year later, he introduced another safe exit and an improved ventilation shaft to his mine.16 By around 1900, William Humberstone became the largest provider of coal in Edmonton e.g. he sold an outstanding 16 tonnes in December of 1901.16 In 1916 and 1917, his mines became largely mechanized, especially in a newer operation which was introduced in 1916.17 This mechanization contributed to a major output -- 100 000 tonnes in 1917 alone. Even with the introduction of this mechanization, certain mines continued to utilize pickaxe mining techniques.17
This image is representative of poor working conditions at the time, due to a number of reasons, most regading what the worker is lacking but should have. Firstly, the worker pictured is not wearing any gloves to protect him from the sharp tools around him or jagged hunks of rock, among other objects. Secondly, the worker's helmet (it might not even be a helmet; rather a cap) appears to be quite thin and would likely offer no protection from falling coal chunks (in the case of a minor collapse, for example). Thirdly, the miner is not wearing any form of mask (to protect him from toxic particles in the atmosphere, and thus help prevent black lung and other such conditions), or protective eyewear (potential injuries could result from rock shards projected by his pickaxe), or anything to cover exposed skin on his arms or neck . Fourthly, the piles of scattered rocks about the worker could potentially cause injuries i.e. he could trip, or cut himself on a jagged rock -- the whole work environment seems quite dangerous. Fifthly, judging by the piles of coal around him, and how full the mine cart is, this worker appears to have been toiling for quite some time. Considering how exposed he is, this seems like a nerve-wracking and terrible experience (the thought of being in an environment featuring a potentially dusty and toxic atmosphere, and which is unnaturally dark is quite atrocious).