Walter Fifield, 1908-1967
Ten years after the acquisition of Dosco by Hawker-Siddeley, in the spring of 1967, a conductor on the Dosco railway fell from a moving train and was crushed between the train and a snow bank. Eight days later, on 9 April 1967, 59-year-old Walter Fifield died of his injuries. He had lived on East Street in Whitney Pier with his wife, Catherine, and daughter, Clara. At the time of his death, Fifield had worked for Dosco for 27 years. [1] His is the fourteenth name inscribed on the steelworkers’ monument for the 1960s.
Just three months after Fifield’s death, Hawker-Siddeley dropped a bombshell on the citizens of Sydney. On 13 October 1967, a day that became known as “Black Friday” in Cape Breton, the company announced that the Sydney steel plant was to close by the following April and leave 3,000 steelworkers without jobs. Premier G.I. Smith immediately responded that Dosco was “completely lacking in any sense of corporate responsibility to its employees and to the community in which it has operated.” [2] The Cape Breton Post printed an outraged editorial:
Sydney’s steelworkers stand today as the victims of the biggest double cross in Cape Breton’s industrial history . . . . As recently as 12 days ago, Hawker- Siddeley and Dosco high officials approved a steel report which recommended expansion and improvements for the Sydney plant . . . . The Sydney steel industry will not die just because Hawker-Siddeley says it will . . . . They can’t get away with it. [3]
The city’s immediate reaction was one of shock – an emotion that was conveyed in nearly every article in the local newspaper the day after the announcement.
“Save our steel,” was the collective refrain heard on Sunday, 19 November 1967 when, although Walter Fifield was not there to march, nearly 20,000 members of his community took to the streets in a “Parade of Concern” over the future of the Sydney steel industry. [4] The Cape Breton Post anointed the parade “the largest gathering in the history of this province.” [5] This illustrates the depths of meaning that the steel industry held, not only for steelworkers and their families, but for the collective identity of the community.
In January 1968, the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia created a crown corporation, the Sydney Steel Corporation (Sysco) to take control of the plant. [6] This mirrored the takeover of Dosco’s coal mining operations in Cape Breton by the federal government through the Cape Breton Development Corporation (Devco). Despite the hazards of working at the plant, evidenced by the 15 recorded deaths at the plant since 1960, the community hoped that a modernization program and government control would result in success for Sydney Steel and a safer work environment for the steelworkers.
Footnotes
[1] Cape Breton Post, 10 April 1967.
[2] Cape Breton Post, 14 October 1967.
[3] Cape Breton Post, 14 October 1967.
[4] Cape Breton Post, 20 November 1967.
[5] Cape Breton Post, 20 November 1967.
[6] Provincial Government of Nova Scotia, “Sydney Steel Corporation Act.”
Just three months after Fifield’s death, Hawker-Siddeley dropped a bombshell on the citizens of Sydney. On 13 October 1967, a day that became known as “Black Friday” in Cape Breton, the company announced that the Sydney steel plant was to close by the following April and leave 3,000 steelworkers without jobs. Premier G.I. Smith immediately responded that Dosco was “completely lacking in any sense of corporate responsibility to its employees and to the community in which it has operated.” [2] The Cape Breton Post printed an outraged editorial:
Sydney’s steelworkers stand today as the victims of the biggest double cross in Cape Breton’s industrial history . . . . As recently as 12 days ago, Hawker- Siddeley and Dosco high officials approved a steel report which recommended expansion and improvements for the Sydney plant . . . . The Sydney steel industry will not die just because Hawker-Siddeley says it will . . . . They can’t get away with it. [3]
The city’s immediate reaction was one of shock – an emotion that was conveyed in nearly every article in the local newspaper the day after the announcement.
“Save our steel,” was the collective refrain heard on Sunday, 19 November 1967 when, although Walter Fifield was not there to march, nearly 20,000 members of his community took to the streets in a “Parade of Concern” over the future of the Sydney steel industry. [4] The Cape Breton Post anointed the parade “the largest gathering in the history of this province.” [5] This illustrates the depths of meaning that the steel industry held, not only for steelworkers and their families, but for the collective identity of the community.
In January 1968, the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia created a crown corporation, the Sydney Steel Corporation (Sysco) to take control of the plant. [6] This mirrored the takeover of Dosco’s coal mining operations in Cape Breton by the federal government through the Cape Breton Development Corporation (Devco). Despite the hazards of working at the plant, evidenced by the 15 recorded deaths at the plant since 1960, the community hoped that a modernization program and government control would result in success for Sydney Steel and a safer work environment for the steelworkers.
Footnotes
[1] Cape Breton Post, 10 April 1967.
[2] Cape Breton Post, 14 October 1967.
[3] Cape Breton Post, 14 October 1967.
[4] Cape Breton Post, 20 November 1967.
[5] Cape Breton Post, 20 November 1967.
[6] Provincial Government of Nova Scotia, “Sydney Steel Corporation Act.”