Reesor Siding Strike of 1963 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Reesor Siding Strike of 1963 was one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history, resulting in the shooting of 11 union members, three of whom were killed. The violent confrontation occurred near the small Francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

hamlet of Reesor Siding

Reesor, Ontario

Reesor is a ghost town located in Cochrane District, Ontario on the Trans-Canada Highway. It was named after Thomas Reesor , a Mennonite minister from Markham, Ontario, who sponsored and helped to settle new German-speaking Mennonite immigrants from the Soviet Union here around 1925.A school was...

(a ghost town today), that is located just west of Opasatika

Opasatika, Ontario

Opasatika is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Cochrane District.The main communities in the township are Opasatika and Lowther, both located along Highway 11 between Mattice and Harty. The ghost town of Reesor Siding, site of the 1963 Reesor Siding incident, is at the...

, approximately halfway between Kapuskasing and Hearst

Hearst, Ontario

Hearst is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in Northern Ontario, approximately west of Kapuskasing, approximately north of Toronto and east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11...

in Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

Background

Fifteen hundred members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union, Local 2995 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America is one of the largest building trades union in the United States. One of the unions that formed the American Federation of Labor in 1886, it left the AFL-CIO in 2001.-Early years:...

, walked out on strike on January 14, 1963, effectively halting operations at the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company which relied on their lumber for wood pulp

Wood pulp

Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

. Among the complaints of the woodcutters were a proposed wage freeze and a proposal by the company that would have seen the woodcutters working seven days a week over the next two months to meet quota.

Independent local farmer-settlers were also established suppliers of pulp wood to the mill, supplying approximately 25% of the company's annual needs. When asked to halt their own sales to put further pressure on the mill however, the farmers refused. Combined with a separate strike at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, one of the chief consumers of the mill's pulp, this weakened the bargaining position of the woodcutters. Union members began sabotaging

Sabotage

Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...

the farmers' stacked piles of lumber, making it unsaleable. The farmers' refusal to support the strike, and the tactics of the strikers soured relationships with the community.

The situation deteriorated to the point that on January 23, the mayor of Kapuskasing, Norman Grant, was quoted in The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

saying, "These settlers are getting so desperate they are going to go into the bush with guns and shoot anyone who tries to interfere with their cutting."

Confrontation

On February 10, a shipment of 600 cords (2200 m³) was scheduled to be loaded onto waiting railcars at midnight - and 400 unarmed union members had resolved to disrupt the shipment. Between 12-20 Ontario Provincial Police

Ontario Provincial Police

The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the the largest deployed police force in Ontario, and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...

(OPP) officers waited at the loading station where twenty farmers were on hand to protect the lumber.

The police erected a simple line made from chains in an attempt to protect the shipment and keep the two groups apart. However, emotions were running high on both sides and the simple barrier was not sufficient to prevent a confrontation. As the unarmed union members moved toward the stockpiled pulp wood, a number of the farmers stepped out from the concealment of a hut by the tracks and began shooting before the union members reached the chain. Eleven union members were shot: Fernand Drouin, and brothers Irenée and Joseph Fortier were killed; eight others were wounded, including Harry Bernard, Ovila Bernard, Joseph Boily, Alex Hachey, Albert Martel, Joseph Mercier, Léo Ouimette and Daniel Tremblay.

Later, Donald MacDonald

Donald C. MacDonald

Donald Cameron MacDonald, CM, O.Ont was a long time Canadian politician and political party leader and had been referred to as the "Best premier Ontario never had." He represented the provincial riding of York South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1982...

, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

(NDP), would declare that affidavit

Affidavit

An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...

s indicated the police knew that the farmers had brought firearms with them that night, but had not taken any precautions to ensure they were not used.

Aftermath

Following the deadly confrontation, an additional 200 OPP officers were sent to the scene. The Provincial Ministry of Labour

Ministry of Labour (Ontario)

The Ministry of Labour is responsible for labour issues in the Canadian province of Ontario.The Ministry of Labour and its agencies are responsible for employment equity and rights, occupational health and safety, and labour relations....

quickly intervened

Interventionism (politics)

Interventionism is a term for a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy or society...

to settle the labour dispute. The striking workers voted to return to work under the terms of their old contract on February 17 while arbitration to fully resolve the issues behind the 33-day long strike continued.

Legal proceedings

All twenty farmers present the night of the shootings were charged, and 5 .22 rifles

.22 Long Rifle

The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...

, 3 12 gauge shotguns, 2 .30-30 rifles

Winchester rifle

In common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...

, 2 Lee-Enfield rifles, a .30-06 rifle

.30-06 Springfield

The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...

and a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver

.38 S&W

The .38 S&W is a revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1877. Though similar in name, it is not interchangeable with the later .38 Smith and Wesson Special due to a different case shape and slightly larger bullet diameter....

were confiscated.

A total of 237 union members were charged with riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

ing and held temporarily in the former Monteith POW Camp, south of Iroquois Falls, until they were released on bail posted by the union. Eventually, 138 union members were found guilty of illegal assembly and the union paid $27,600 in fines.

The case against the farmers was heard in October, 1963 in Cochrane

Cochrane, Ontario

Cochrane is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District...

, before Supreme Court of Ontario

Supreme Court of Ontario

The Supreme Court of Ontario was a superior court of the Canadian province of Ontario. Now defunct, in 1989 the Courts of Justice Amendment Act, 1989 was enacted by the Government to create one large superior trial court for Ontario...

Chief Justice McRuer

James Chalmers McRuer

James Chalmers McRuer, was a Canadian lawyer, judge, commissioner and author in Ontario.Born in Oxford County, Ontario, he received his law education from the Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1913. During World War I, he served in the Canadian Field Artillery as a...

. After three days of deliberations following a preliminary hearing the seven-man jury dismissed the charges of non-capital murder. Paul-Emile Coulombe, Léonce Tremblay and Héribert Murray were charged with firearms violations arising from the incident, which resulted in fines of $150 to each of them.

Cultural significance

A memorial to the incident and the dead and injured workers was erected by the union amid some public outcry at a cost of $22,000. The Globe and Mail reported threats at the time to destroy the monument. The Province of Ontario in turn erected a historical plaque on the site.

In 1969, Stompin Tom Connors released his album On Tragedy Trail which chronicled various real and fictitious Canadian tragedies, including the Reesor shooting. He reported receiving death threats, ordering him not to play the song at upcoming venues.

The incident has been the subject of a number of folks songs, plays, and a CBC radio documentary in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. It also forms the basis for the 2003 historical novel Défenses legitimes by Doric Germain

Doric Germain

Doric Germain is a Canadian writer and university professor.Educated at the University of Ottawa and Université Laval, he briefly taught high school before publishing his first novel in 1980...

.

In 2005, Brent St. Denis

Brent St. Denis

Brent J. St. Denis is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2008, originally representing Algoma and later its successor ridings of Algoma—Manitoulin and Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing.St...

marked the 42nd anniversary of the confrontation in Parliament

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

, and it has also been occasionally raised in the course of the business of the Ontario Legislature as an important milestone in labour history.

External links

1963 CBC Radio announcement
Reesor Siding history page Maintained by the United Steel Workers of America, Local 1-2995, successor organization to the local identified in this article.