Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Uncategorized · 10th August 2007
Editor
The following passage is from an article by Ginger Goodwin published 95 years ago today (August 10) in The Western Clarion.
The title of the article is The Iron Heel, a direct reference to the prophetic book of the same name by Jack London. A month after the article was published, Cumberland miners laid down their tools and vacated the mines. What followed is known as the Big Strike which, over the course of the next two years proved to be one of Canada's longest and most rancorous labor actions.
The Iron Heel
Wherever you go you see the same revolt implanted into the workingmen, and as this thing is gradually increasing why soon things will have to come to a climax.
If we study the condition of the workers it is only logical that this spirit of revolt is existing among them, for wherever we go we see the same miserable conditions and the same competition for jobs in order that they may live.
Now, then, we know that all this misery is the outcome of someone's carelessness, and that someone is the capitalists, those who own the machinery of production. Now, as this class of parasites have been living on the blood of the working class, they are responsible for the conditions existing at the present time.
This tool-owning class are the masters of the situation, for in order for you to gain access to the means of life you have to go to an employer and sell yourself. Now, as you go to the boss and say ‘How are chances?' he will retort in this manner: ‘Come around in a few days and I might have a vacancy.' He means by this that you will have to wait until he can hire you and make a profit of you.
In order to throw this system over we have got to organize as a class and fight them as class against class.
And so I say we have got to back our forces against them, and our weapons are education, organization and agitation, and read and study up on the principles of Socialism, for it is necessary that you know when to strike and how to strike, and if we have not these weapons when the time comes, we shall not be able to predict the outcome of the fight.
All I know is this, that in every phase of society, whenever a change took place, it was the outcome of force which determined the winning side, so what we want is to educate you to your power, Mr Workingman, and when we realize it we have the power and the lever to overthrow the existing society.
The title of the article is The Iron Heel, a direct reference to the prophetic book of the same name by Jack London. A month after the article was published, Cumberland miners laid down their tools and vacated the mines. What followed is known as the Big Strike which, over the course of the next two years proved to be one of Canada's longest and most rancorous labor actions.
The Iron Heel
Wherever you go you see the same revolt implanted into the workingmen, and as this thing is gradually increasing why soon things will have to come to a climax.
If we study the condition of the workers it is only logical that this spirit of revolt is existing among them, for wherever we go we see the same miserable conditions and the same competition for jobs in order that they may live.
Now, then, we know that all this misery is the outcome of someone's carelessness, and that someone is the capitalists, those who own the machinery of production. Now, as this class of parasites have been living on the blood of the working class, they are responsible for the conditions existing at the present time.
This tool-owning class are the masters of the situation, for in order for you to gain access to the means of life you have to go to an employer and sell yourself. Now, as you go to the boss and say ‘How are chances?' he will retort in this manner: ‘Come around in a few days and I might have a vacancy.' He means by this that you will have to wait until he can hire you and make a profit of you.
In order to throw this system over we have got to organize as a class and fight them as class against class.
And so I say we have got to back our forces against them, and our weapons are education, organization and agitation, and read and study up on the principles of Socialism, for it is necessary that you know when to strike and how to strike, and if we have not these weapons when the time comes, we shall not be able to predict the outcome of the fight.
All I know is this, that in every phase of society, whenever a change took place, it was the outcome of force which determined the winning side, so what we want is to educate you to your power, Mr Workingman, and when we realize it we have the power and the lever to overthrow the existing society.
Cumberland Miner
Jack London