The Ladies Auxiliary of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers
Encyclopedia
The Ladies' Auxiliaries (LA) of the International Union Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW) were women's organizations in the United States of America and Canada associated with local units of the IUMMSW
. Women active in the Auxiliaries were the wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers of IUMMSW members. Women's organizations associated with trade unions in male-dominated industries have played a central role in labour struggles since the end of the 19th century.
The Ladies Auxiliaries of the IUMMSW helped to sustain and build the strength of the union. During labour strikes, these women fed thousands of striking miners on the picket lines and organized clothing drives for strikers' needy families. They initiated letter-writing campaigns to improve worker safety, participating in labour organizing, and collectivized around various social issues such as child care, racism, and health care. These activities were unpaid. The work of these women contributed to the development of IUMMSW as a viable and powerful force in labour movement of the early 20th century.
Others Ladies Auxiliary groups in the early 20th century included those associated with: the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
and Engineers, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters’
, Carpenters
, Milk Drivers, Mail Carriers, and Motion Picture Operators and the International Association of Machinists
(this Auxiliary had a membership of over 20K in 1920).
, British Columbia(BC)
, and Quebec
. In the Sudbury local alone, IUMMSW organized close to 18,000 in the mines and smelters of International Nickel Company and Falconbridge
. During the Cold War period, unions with left-leaning leaderships, such as IUMMMSW were isolated, raided, and ultimately defeated one by one, their leaders branded as subversives and enemy agents. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
infiltrated many of these unions and kept detailed surveillance files on their leading activists. Only in the early 1990s, 40 years after their covert surveillance did the RCMP admit publicly to these activities, including their reliance on informants in the IUMMSW’s Ladies Auxiliary.
The union’s imperative was to contribute to the emancipation of the working-class
, nominally men and women alike, although like many trade unions of the time, the membership of IUMMSW was exclusively male. Indeed, legislation in Ontario restricted women from all forms of mine employment other than clerical work well past mid-century. The physical demands and inherent dangers of mine work were linked inextricably with masculinity. To be a miner, a millworker, or a smelterman was to be a man. Apart from their involvement as waged smelter workers during the war years, eclipsed in the aftermath of war when men returned to reclaim their positions, women contributed to the struggle for better working conditions in the mines and smelters via the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Inspired not by wages, but by their dreams of a fair and just world, these women prepared meals during strikes, organized clothing drives for picketers, and augmented the finances of the male locals with the proceeds of their bake sales, while working to address large-scale social and economic problems such as “Teenage Problems”, “Health”, “Racial Problems” and “World Peace” (see One LA Local’s Program for Coming Year insert).
members thought
"a good union girl’ should work to support her family, should use makeup moderately and keep her stocking seams straight, go out on the picket line with her man because having ‘girls come on the line…puts more pep in the gas’".
The historical records show, however, that LA did more than stand behind their male counterparts. While they took leading roles in strikes, such as the 1941 Kirkland Lake strike, they were not simply a ‘reserve army’ of the disappeared, resuming their posts in their kitchens after the strikes were over. Indeed, they had an active long-standing political agenda of their own including formal membership and involvements in women’s organizations such as the Canadian Congress of Women.
The political work of LA has largely gone un-noticed even by Auxiliaries of subsequent generations. For example, during the 1983 Copper Strike in Morenci, Arizona, the Morenci Miners Women’s Auxiliary fed and clothed families, which served to build solidarity and commitment among the strikers and their families, but also actively maintained the picket line and organized rallies to raise public awareness and support. The women spoke of the latter set of activities as ‘new’ political work of the auxiliary:
In 1944, one of the largest IUMMSW Auxiliary locals was established in Sudbury with a membership of approximately 300 members. Local 117 charter of the LA was granted at the same time the largest local (598) of IUMMSW was certified as the bargaining agent for approximately 10,000 (or ¾) employees of International Nickel Company and Falconbridge. Auxiliary locals existed where there were men’s MMSW locals. By 1946, there were 25 Canadian LA: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
; Trail
, Kimerberly
, Bralorne
, Copper Mountain
and Britannia
in BC; Kississing
, Flin Flon
in Manitoba
; Geraldton
, Timmins
, Kirkland Lake, Sudbury, New Toronto
, and Port Colborne in Ontario; Rouyn-Noranda, Val D’or, and Malartic
in Quebec. The geographic spread within some locals warranted branches (eg Creighton-Lively branch, Levack branch and Garson branch of 117). When the LA locals became sufficiently large, with many branches, as the Sudbury 117 did in the early 1960s, the branches became distinct LA locals, albeit they were still affiliated with the structure of the men’s local, eg. The mines at Creighton-Lively and Levack, originally branches of LA local 117, become #316 and #317, respectively.
The material sacrifice of the work tumble out not far behind:
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
. Women active in the Auxiliaries were the wives, daughters, sisters, and mothers of IUMMSW members. Women's organizations associated with trade unions in male-dominated industries have played a central role in labour struggles since the end of the 19th century.
The Ladies Auxiliaries of the IUMMSW helped to sustain and build the strength of the union. During labour strikes, these women fed thousands of striking miners on the picket lines and organized clothing drives for strikers' needy families. They initiated letter-writing campaigns to improve worker safety, participating in labour organizing, and collectivized around various social issues such as child care, racism, and health care. These activities were unpaid. The work of these women contributed to the development of IUMMSW as a viable and powerful force in labour movement of the early 20th century.
Others Ladies Auxiliary groups in the early 20th century included those associated with: the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was one of the railroad unions of the 19th century.-History:The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York by Joshua A. Leach and 10 other Erie Railroad firemen...
and Engineers, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters’
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by blacks to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor . It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks , now known as the Transportation Communications International Union.The...
, Carpenters
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:...
, Milk Drivers, Mail Carriers, and Motion Picture Operators and the International Association of Machinists
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is an AFL-CIO/CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries.-Formation and early history:...
(this Auxiliary had a membership of over 20K in 1920).
International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW)
Along with other left-led unions, IUMMSW upheld the post-war vision of progress through labour unity and its active pursuit of broader social goals. It was successful in securing gains for its members at the bargaining table and animating its internal culture with their belief in the fairness and justice of an egalitarian society. Although an international union, IUMMSW had several very large Canadian locals in the 1950s in OntarioOntario
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....
, British Columbia(BC)
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...
, and 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....
. In the Sudbury local alone, IUMMSW organized close to 18,000 in the mines and smelters of International Nickel Company and Falconbridge
Falconbridge Ltd.
Falconbridge Limited was a Toronto, Ontario-based natural resources company with operations in 18 countries, involved in the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of metal and mineral products, including nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum. It was listed on the TSX and NYSE , and had...
. During the Cold War period, unions with left-leaning leaderships, such as IUMMMSW were isolated, raided, and ultimately defeated one by one, their leaders branded as subversives and enemy agents. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
infiltrated many of these unions and kept detailed surveillance files on their leading activists. Only in the early 1990s, 40 years after their covert surveillance did the RCMP admit publicly to these activities, including their reliance on informants in the IUMMSW’s Ladies Auxiliary.
The union’s imperative was to contribute to the emancipation of the working-class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, nominally men and women alike, although like many trade unions of the time, the membership of IUMMSW was exclusively male. Indeed, legislation in Ontario restricted women from all forms of mine employment other than clerical work well past mid-century. The physical demands and inherent dangers of mine work were linked inextricably with masculinity. To be a miner, a millworker, or a smelterman was to be a man. Apart from their involvement as waged smelter workers during the war years, eclipsed in the aftermath of war when men returned to reclaim their positions, women contributed to the struggle for better working conditions in the mines and smelters via the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Inspired not by wages, but by their dreams of a fair and just world, these women prepared meals during strikes, organized clothing drives for picketers, and augmented the finances of the male locals with the proceeds of their bake sales, while working to address large-scale social and economic problems such as “Teenage Problems”, “Health”, “Racial Problems” and “World Peace” (see One LA Local’s Program for Coming Year insert).
IUMMSW Ladies Auxiliary’s Political Work
The image of the woman standing behind her man and his job became a sentimental theme in union literature. As Strom’s archival research shows, the Congress Industrial OrganizationCongress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
members thought
"a good union girl’ should work to support her family, should use makeup moderately and keep her stocking seams straight, go out on the picket line with her man because having ‘girls come on the line…puts more pep in the gas’".
The historical records show, however, that LA did more than stand behind their male counterparts. While they took leading roles in strikes, such as the 1941 Kirkland Lake strike, they were not simply a ‘reserve army’ of the disappeared, resuming their posts in their kitchens after the strikes were over. Indeed, they had an active long-standing political agenda of their own including formal membership and involvements in women’s organizations such as the Canadian Congress of Women.
The political work of LA has largely gone un-noticed even by Auxiliaries of subsequent generations. For example, during the 1983 Copper Strike in Morenci, Arizona, the Morenci Miners Women’s Auxiliary fed and clothed families, which served to build solidarity and commitment among the strikers and their families, but also actively maintained the picket line and organized rallies to raise public awareness and support. The women spoke of the latter set of activities as ‘new’ political work of the auxiliary:
We don’t just do what the auxiliary used to do….
In 1944, one of the largest IUMMSW Auxiliary locals was established in Sudbury with a membership of approximately 300 members. Local 117 charter of the LA was granted at the same time the largest local (598) of IUMMSW was certified as the bargaining agent for approximately 10,000 (or ¾) employees of International Nickel Company and Falconbridge. Auxiliary locals existed where there were men’s MMSW locals. By 1946, there were 25 Canadian LA: Yellowknife, 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...
; Trail
Trail, British Columbia
Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada.-Geography:Trail has an area of . The city is located on both banks of the Columbia River, approximately 10 km north of the United States border. This section of the Columbia River valley is located between the...
, Kimerberly
Kimberley, British Columbia
Kimberley is a small city in southeast British Columbia, Canada along Highway 95A between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains. Kimberley was named in 1896 after the Kimberley mine in South Africa. From 1917 to 2001, it was the home to the world's largest lead-zinc mine, the Sullivan Mine...
, Bralorne
Bralorne, British Columbia
Bralorne is an historic underground gold mining community in the Bridge River District, some sixty dirt road miles west of the town of Lillooet.-Background:...
, Copper Mountain
Copper Mountain (British Columbia)
Copper Mountain is a mountain in British Columbia, north of Greenwood and north-west of Grand Forks....
and Britannia
Britannia Beach, British Columbia
Britannia Beach is a small unincorporated community in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District located approximately 30 kilometers north of Vancouver, British Columbia on the Sea-to-Sky Highway on Howe Sound. It has a population of about 300....
in BC; Kississing
Kississing Lake
Kississing Lake is a lake in western Manitoba, Canada approximately 30 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon. The Kississing River drains it northeast into Flatrock Lake on the Churchill River. The 1,705 yard Kississing Portage connected the Churchill with the Burntwood River....
, Flin Flon
Flin Flon
Flin Flon is a Canadian mining city located on the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within Manitoba.- Founding :...
in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
; Geraldton
Greenstone, Ontario
Greenstone is an amalgamated town in the Canadian province of Ontario. The area of the town is , stretching along Highway 11 from Lake Nipigon to Longlac; it is one of the largest incorporated towns in Canada....
, Timmins
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
, Kirkland Lake, Sudbury, New Toronto
New Toronto
The historic Town of New Toronto is a neighbourhood in the south-west end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the south-centre of the former Township of Etobicoke and was an independent municipality from 1913 to 1967, one of the former 'Lakeshore Municipalities'...
, and Port Colborne in Ontario; Rouyn-Noranda, Val D’or, and Malartic
Malartic, Quebec
Malartic is a town on the Malartic River in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality. It is located about east of the centre of Rouyn-Noranda along Quebec Route 117 and the Canadian National Railway....
in Quebec. The geographic spread within some locals warranted branches (eg Creighton-Lively branch, Levack branch and Garson branch of 117). When the LA locals became sufficiently large, with many branches, as the Sudbury 117 did in the early 1960s, the branches became distinct LA locals, albeit they were still affiliated with the structure of the men’s local, eg. The mines at Creighton-Lively and Levack, originally branches of LA local 117, become #316 and #317, respectively.
IUMMSW Ladies Auxiliary’s Organizing Work
Many of the IUMMSW Auxiliaries were as long-lived as their male companion unions. Notably, the women took active roles in organizing not only the Auxiliaries but also the male locals. As one of the original Auxiliary members offers this compelling account of her organizing work:
You go ahead and you do it hey, but you are scared stiff. I was! I didn’t think anybody would want to kill us because we were trying to organize miners, it seemed incredible.
The material sacrifice of the work tumble out not far behind:
Those few months I lived on carrots that we happened to grow in the garden. And, if I ever see another soup bone it is going to be too many. From that day to this, I don’t boil a soup bone.
See also
- Progressive Mine WorkersProgressive Mine WorkersThe Progressive Miners of America was a coal miners' union organized in 1932 in downstate Illinois. It was formed after United Mine Workers President John L. Lewis, sided with coal operators and subverted a contract referendum which would have reduced a miner's daily wage from $6.10 to $5.00.In...
- Western Federation of MinersWestern Federation of MinersThe Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
- Salt of the EarthSalt of the EarthSalt of the Earth is an American drama film written by Michael Wilson, directed by Herbert J. Biberman, and produced by Paul Jarrico. All had been blacklisted by the Hollywood establishment due to their alleged involvement in communist politics....