Royal Oak Mines
Encyclopedia
Royal Oak Mines Incorporated was a gold
mining company, founded in 1990 by Margaret "Peggy" Witte (now known as Margaret Kent) in Kirkland, Washington.
The company held numerous gold and base metal
properties in Canada
, including the Giant Mine
in the Northwest Territories
, Pamour Mine in Ontario
, Hope Brook Mine in Newfoundland
, Colomac Mine
in the Northwest Territories
, and the Kemess Mine
in British Columbia
. The company also had significant interests in minerals in China through Asia Materials (44% share) and Highwood Resources (39% share). The company reported nearly US$
600 million in assets, and loss of $4.4 million on revenues of US$187 million for fiscal 1996. Its Hopebrook and Colomac mines were closed in 1997. Low gold prices of 1997-1998 caused Royal Oak to go bankrupt in April 1999, and its mining assets were liquidated.
in Yellowknife became infamous in Canada during the 1990s as the site of a protracted and violent industrial relations dispute that lasted eighteen months. The declining price of gold led to Witte demanding pay cuts, which the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers union (CASAW) Local 4 refused, arguing that the company was also lax on safety.
The company locked out
the union and flew in replacement workers (otherwise known as strikebreakers).
On September 18, 1992, at the height of the labour dispute, an explosion in a drift of the mine, 750 ft (230 m) underground, killed nine strikebreakers/replacement workers riding in a man-car.
For 13 months after the blast, the RCMP interrogated hundreds of strikers, their families, and supporters, wiretapping their telephones and searching their houses. Owner Margaret Witte said that there would be no negotiations with the union unless an arrest was made.
later confessed to and was convicted by a jury of nine counts of second degree murder, being sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2004, he blamed Royal Oak Mines, the security company, and his union. He argued that a simple screen and padlock over a broken window would have dissuaded him, and that he was only capable of the bombing because replacement workers had been "dehumanized" by his union.
CAW members Al Shearing and Tim Bettger were sentenced to two and a half and three years in prison, respectively. Both were convicted of painting anti-scab graffiti and setting an explosion in a ventilation shaft on June 29, 1992. Bettger was sentenced to six more months in prison for blowing a hole in a television satellite dish Sept. 1 of that year.
's of Canada (the security firm hired by Royal Oak), the union (Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers union (CASAW) Local 4), and the Government of the Northwest Territories
. The compensation board had already paid out a similar amount of funds to the deceased miners' families.
At trial, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
found the defendants liable. Pinkerton security was held responsible for 15% of damages, for failing to adequately secure the mine. The Canadian Auto Workers
(CAW) was found to have breached its duty of care by doing nothing to stop illegal acts during the strike, paying fines and legal fees for striking miners, providing a person to assist the striking union who prolonged the strike, and failing to bargain in good faith. The court ruled that the cumulative effect of these breaches of the duty of care were found to have materially contributed to Roger Warren
's bombing of the mine. (The unionized miners were part of Local 4 at the time of the strike, and merged into the CAW on May 1994.) The company was found to be 23% responsible for the damages assessed, as they maintained mine operations during the strike, refused to bargain in good faith, and for failing to ensure the safety of the replacement workers.
On appeal to the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories
, the trial decision was overturned and the defendants were found to not owe the plaintiffs a duty of care.
A further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada
was heard in May 2009. In February 2010 the appeal was dismissed. The Court found that although the security firm and the government owed a duty of care to the replacement workers, that duty was not breached.
injects an objective standard into the analysis. In this decision Royal Oak Mines was compelled to return to the bargaining table on the basis that its refusal to discuss grievance arbitration with the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers, Local No. 4, constituted an unreasonable limitation on the bargaining process and thereby represented a lack of good faith. In coming to this conclusion the Court observed that grievance arbitration for dismissed employees was a nearly universal characteristic of collective agreements in Canada.
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mining company, founded in 1990 by Margaret "Peggy" Witte (now known as Margaret Kent) in Kirkland, Washington.
The company held numerous gold and base metal
Base metal
In chemistry, the term base metal is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidizes or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid to form hydrogen. Examples include iron, nickel, lead and zinc...
properties in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, including the Giant Mine
Giant Mine
The Giant Mine was a large gold mine located on the Ingraham Trail just outside ofYellowknife, Northwest Territories. Gold was discovered on the property in 1935 by Johnny Baker, but the true extent of the gold deposits were not known until 1944 when a massive gold-bearing shear zone was uncovered...
in the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, Pamour Mine in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Hope Brook Mine in Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, Colomac Mine
Colomac Mine
The Colomac Mine was an open pit gold mine in the Northwest Territories that operated between 1990–1992, and 1994-1997. It was operated by Peggy Witte, whose first company Neptune Resources Limited had little success in making a profitable operation. In 1994 the mine reopened by her other company,...
in the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, and the Kemess Mine
Kemess Mine
Kemess Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine, located just northeast of the foot of Thutade Lake, at the head of the Finlay River, in the Omineca Mountains of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The company also had significant interests in minerals in China through Asia Materials (44% share) and Highwood Resources (39% share). The company reported nearly US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
600 million in assets, and loss of $4.4 million on revenues of US$187 million for fiscal 1996. Its Hopebrook and Colomac mines were closed in 1997. Low gold prices of 1997-1998 caused Royal Oak to go bankrupt in April 1999, and its mining assets were liquidated.
Labour dispute
Royal Oak Mines' operations at the Giant MineGiant Mine
The Giant Mine was a large gold mine located on the Ingraham Trail just outside ofYellowknife, Northwest Territories. Gold was discovered on the property in 1935 by Johnny Baker, but the true extent of the gold deposits were not known until 1944 when a massive gold-bearing shear zone was uncovered...
in Yellowknife became infamous in Canada during the 1990s as the site of a protracted and violent industrial relations dispute that lasted eighteen months. The declining price of gold led to Witte demanding pay cuts, which the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers union (CASAW) Local 4 refused, arguing that the company was also lax on safety.
The company locked out
Lockout (industry)
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working. This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.- Causes :...
the union and flew in replacement workers (otherwise known as strikebreakers).
On September 18, 1992, at the height of the labour dispute, an explosion in a drift of the mine, 750 ft (230 m) underground, killed nine strikebreakers/replacement workers riding in a man-car.
For 13 months after the blast, the RCMP interrogated hundreds of strikers, their families, and supporters, wiretapping their telephones and searching their houses. Owner Margaret Witte said that there would be no negotiations with the union unless an arrest was made.
Criminal charges
Union member and dismissed miner Roger WarrenRoger Warren
Roger Warren is a former miner who was convicted of nine counts of second-degree murder in connection to the September 18, 1992 Giant Mine bombings at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada...
later confessed to and was convicted by a jury of nine counts of second degree murder, being sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2004, he blamed Royal Oak Mines, the security company, and his union. He argued that a simple screen and padlock over a broken window would have dissuaded him, and that he was only capable of the bombing because replacement workers had been "dehumanized" by his union.
CAW members Al Shearing and Tim Bettger were sentenced to two and a half and three years in prison, respectively. Both were convicted of painting anti-scab graffiti and setting an explosion in a ventilation shaft on June 29, 1992. Bettger was sentenced to six more months in prison for blowing a hole in a television satellite dish Sept. 1 of that year.
Civil suit (Fullowka v. Royal Oak Ventures Inc.)
The workers' compensation board, on behalf of the surviving family members of the killed replacement workers, launched a $10 million lawsuit against several parties involved in the strike, including Royal Oak Ventures, PinkertonPinkerton
Pinkerton may refer to:*Pinkerton , a 1996 album by Weezer*Pinkerton, Ontario*Pinkerton National Detective Agency, a detective agency founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton*Pinkerton Academy, a high school in Derry, New Hampshire...
's of Canada (the security firm hired by Royal Oak), the union (Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers union (CASAW) Local 4), and the Government of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
. The compensation board had already paid out a similar amount of funds to the deceased miners' families.
At trial, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories
The Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is the name of two different superior courts for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories, which have existed at different times.The first Supreme Court of the North-West Territories was created in 1885...
found the defendants liable. Pinkerton security was held responsible for 15% of damages, for failing to adequately secure the mine. The Canadian Auto Workers
Canadian Auto Workers
The Canadian Auto Workers is one of Canada's largest and highest profile social unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St...
(CAW) was found to have breached its duty of care by doing nothing to stop illegal acts during the strike, paying fines and legal fees for striking miners, providing a person to assist the striking union who prolonged the strike, and failing to bargain in good faith. The court ruled that the cumulative effect of these breaches of the duty of care were found to have materially contributed to Roger Warren
Roger Warren
Roger Warren is a former miner who was convicted of nine counts of second-degree murder in connection to the September 18, 1992 Giant Mine bombings at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada...
's bombing of the mine. (The unionized miners were part of Local 4 at the time of the strike, and merged into the CAW on May 1994.) The company was found to be 23% responsible for the damages assessed, as they maintained mine operations during the strike, refused to bargain in good faith, and for failing to ensure the safety of the replacement workers.
On appeal to the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories
Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories
The Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories is the highest appellate court which hears appeals from criminal cases and civil cases of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories....
, the trial decision was overturned and the defendants were found to not owe the plaintiffs a duty of care.
A further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
was heard in May 2009. In February 2010 the appeal was dismissed. The Court found that although the security firm and the government owed a duty of care to the replacement workers, that duty was not breached.
Royal Oak Mines v. Canada (Labour Relations Board)
The employer's steadfast refusal to discuss grievance arbitration for these and other dismissed employees constituted the single largest sticking-point in the negotiations. The Canada Labour Relations Board intervened several times during the bargaining process and eventually forced Royal Oak Mines to return to the negotiation table with a previously withdrawn proposal. Royal Oak Mines sought judicial review of this order, with the dispute winding its way through the court system during the first half of the 1990s. This set the stage for significant changes in Canadian labour law as evident in the Supreme Court's 1996 decision in Royal Oak Mines v. Canada (Labour Relations Board), [1996] 1 S.C.R. 369. In his majority decision Mister Justice Peter Cory formulated a distinction between the subjective and objective aspects of the duty to bargain. A 'good faith' requirement forms the subjective aspect of this duty, while a requirement to 'make every reasonable effort' to conclude a collective agreementCollective agreement
A collective agreement or collective bargaining agreement is an agreement between employers and employees which regulates the terms and conditions of employees in their workplace, their duties and the duties of the employer...
injects an objective standard into the analysis. In this decision Royal Oak Mines was compelled to return to the bargaining table on the basis that its refusal to discuss grievance arbitration with the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers, Local No. 4, constituted an unreasonable limitation on the bargaining process and thereby represented a lack of good faith. In coming to this conclusion the Court observed that grievance arbitration for dismissed employees was a nearly universal characteristic of collective agreements in Canada.