George Crane, 1880-1944
On 12 June 1944, the Second World War was in full swing. The previous week, more than 150,000 Allied troops had stormed the beaches of Normandy, and there were sporadic reports of German U-boat activity in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. [1] The war was perhaps a topic of discussion between John Johnson and his friend, 64-year-old George Crane, as they walked along the railway tracks near the slag ladle at the Sydney steel plant. Crane was born in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, and had moved to Sydney as a young man to work at the steel plant; in Sydney he married his wife, Effie. As the two men were walking, the ladle exploded and sent burning slag onto both the men. Johnson was lucky, as he was only lightly splashed and was able to remove his clothes. Crane, on the other hand, was covered with the burning slag. As Johnson tore at his clothes, Crane took off running up the tracks and screamed for help as his skin burned. When he fell to the ground, about 100 yards up the track, other workers were able to remove his burning clothes and wrap him in a blanket. A shipping operator from Sydney, W.M. MacDonald, then drove Crane to the on-site emergency hospital. Crane would not see the end of the war; he passed away early the next morning, on 13 June 1944. [2]
The Second World War was a period of unprecedented growth for the Canadian labour movement. Historian Laurel Sefton MacDowell explains: “At the outbreak of the war, there were only 359,000 organized workers. Union membership more than doubled during the war, so that by 1946 there were 832,000 organized employees engaged in collective bargaining.” [3] The strength of these unions offered workers the chance to significantly influence wages and workplace conditions. After an organized walkout at steel plants at Sydney, Sault St. Marie, and Trenton in 1943, the government agreed to modest wage increases. [4] The National War Labour Board went against the government’s wishes and continued the implementation of subsistence-level wages, which caused the frustrated union to ask in a 1943 publication, “Is an agreement by the Government of Canada no better than a scrap of paper?” [5] Although this early attempt at wage reform had failed, by the time of his death in 1944, George Crane had lived to see one of the major victories for the Sydney steelworkers – the recognition of the steelworkers’ union and the implementation of collective bargaining rights. The tragedy of Crane’s untimely death, however, highlights the fact that there was still plenty to be done in the attainment of a safer, healthier workplace.
Footnotes
[1] “Sydney Harbour in World War II,” Cape Breton’s Magazine, no. 13 (1976), 29-30.
[2] Sydney Post Record, 14 June 1944; Historical Vital Statistics, “Province of Nova Scotia Certificate of Registration of Death – George Crane,” Book 217, 1944.
[3] Laurel Sefton MacDowell, “The Formation of the Canadian Industrial Relations System During World War II,” Labour/Le Travailleur, vol. 3 (1978), 176
[4] Laurel Sefton MacDowell, “The 1943 Strike Against Wartime Wage Controls,” Labour/Le Travailleur, vol. 10 (Autumn, 1982), 79-80.
[5] “Crisis in Steel,” United Steelworkers of America, 1943. Beaton Institute Archives, Cape Breton University. PAM 3436, 32.
The Second World War was a period of unprecedented growth for the Canadian labour movement. Historian Laurel Sefton MacDowell explains: “At the outbreak of the war, there were only 359,000 organized workers. Union membership more than doubled during the war, so that by 1946 there were 832,000 organized employees engaged in collective bargaining.” [3] The strength of these unions offered workers the chance to significantly influence wages and workplace conditions. After an organized walkout at steel plants at Sydney, Sault St. Marie, and Trenton in 1943, the government agreed to modest wage increases. [4] The National War Labour Board went against the government’s wishes and continued the implementation of subsistence-level wages, which caused the frustrated union to ask in a 1943 publication, “Is an agreement by the Government of Canada no better than a scrap of paper?” [5] Although this early attempt at wage reform had failed, by the time of his death in 1944, George Crane had lived to see one of the major victories for the Sydney steelworkers – the recognition of the steelworkers’ union and the implementation of collective bargaining rights. The tragedy of Crane’s untimely death, however, highlights the fact that there was still plenty to be done in the attainment of a safer, healthier workplace.
Footnotes
[1] “Sydney Harbour in World War II,” Cape Breton’s Magazine, no. 13 (1976), 29-30.
[2] Sydney Post Record, 14 June 1944; Historical Vital Statistics, “Province of Nova Scotia Certificate of Registration of Death – George Crane,” Book 217, 1944.
[3] Laurel Sefton MacDowell, “The Formation of the Canadian Industrial Relations System During World War II,” Labour/Le Travailleur, vol. 3 (1978), 176
[4] Laurel Sefton MacDowell, “The 1943 Strike Against Wartime Wage Controls,” Labour/Le Travailleur, vol. 10 (Autumn, 1982), 79-80.
[5] “Crisis in Steel,” United Steelworkers of America, 1943. Beaton Institute Archives, Cape Breton University. PAM 3436, 32.