ne ae ee 64 Ene 5 aoe Vilijo Rosvallin ja John Voutilaisen ruumiiden etsintajoukkoa. ” COR wines Skanes ae SB ey SEN es Viljo Rosvall-vainajan ruumis l6ydon Jalkeen puron rannalla. Worker 194] ‘sin’ lakko murrettiin Kirkland Lakella koko talven kestaneen lakon jalkeen. Noin 400 maakuntapoliisin kerrottiin silloin auttaneen rik- kureita lakon ‘murtamiscksi. Cornwallissa Ontariossa. joutuivat lakossa olleet meri- miehet (Canadian Secamen’s Union} v. 1946 rautaisilla lyOmaaseilla varustettujen rik- kurien hydkkayksen kohtecksi. Naiden yhtididen palveluksessa olleiden rikkurien kerrotaan myohemmin tunnustancen, etta heidat oli palkannut eras mont- realilainen salapoliisiliike. Johns Manville Asbestoyh- tion lakossa olleet tydlaisct saivat 1949 vastaansa poliisien ja rikkurien vakivaltaisuudet. Arkkiptispa Charbonneau sa- noi toukokuun 2 pnd: “Ty6- racniuokka on joutunut uhriksi salalitolle, joka haluaa murs kata sen...” spruce Falls Power & Pa- per Com tydlaiset. jotka kuu- luivat Lumber & Sawmill Wor- kers Unionin osastoon 2995, lakkoutuivat — tyOnantajaansa astaan L963. [tsendiset ryhtyi ‘at lakkoon ja jatkow at puiden Re Lakkolaiste naisten valinen 4 ja tse. vPteenotlo jonu sithen eta 3 3 lakkolaista tKuolt ja S omuuta loukhaantut. hifiin kuin Poe? Robin rik eared hidiats vortaisiin taean ; seka vanhen Fomalta etta uudemimaltahi ayjab ta. Mutta tarkoitus on vain ja Vout nollisesth qatkaa au oOSsorltaa, ett ; Rosvall lainen kuuluvat Canadan ty6d- 4entikkeen etujoukon mart- tyyriryhmaan jonka tydn ja uhrausten avulla on taman maan tydévaenlike rakennettu scka paremmat palkka- ja tyo- olosuhtect vahitellen voitettu. Tana 5Q0-vuosipaivana me kunmoitamme — luonnollisesti ennenkaikkea Rosvalliaja Vou- tilaista. ja he ovat todella kaikkien canadalaistydlaisten kunnianosoituksen ansainneet. mutta samalla kertaa me kun- moitamme ja muistamme myos By Satu Repo INTRODUCTION Working class history is not only an academic specialty. It can also be perceived as crea- tive carried on inside a working class community to give mean- ing to the past and. by impli- cation, purpose to the present. As such it is not easily ac- cessable to those who are not part of that community. Fre- quently itis local and regional in character. In most cases it is passed on orally as reminiscen- ees that sometimes receive a more permanent form in storie songs or plays. Only at si: “i 1e more politically conscious working people, those who through political parties. unions cultural ciganinetlcri have attempted to create nation -wide institutions, has there been significant impetus to commit this shared and remenhered experience into writing, Even the writing, however, is done in acommunal context, like story- telling. It is found in eommu- nity publications or labour papers which assume a close raport between the writer and the audience. This November 50 years have passed rae ce two organi- zers, Rosvall and Voutilainen disappeared. during a union mission in the Lakehead area, and were never again seen alive. The preservation of the memory of Rosvall and Voutilainen among the Finns ts an interest- ing example of both oral and written history-making within a working class community. Their memory i8 part of the industrial folklore of the Thun- der Bay area, where Finns are a significantly -large minority group and where the left-leaning Finnish Organization still has Canadan ty6vaenliikkeen kaik- an active local. But Rosvall and kia muitakin marttyyreja. Voutilainen are also known to Finns across the country who are members of the Finnish Finn Forum -79’ Organization and read its natio- nal newspaper cipation in union organizing among lumber workers and as members of the Communist Party of Canada, some Finns have also passed on this history to people outside their. group. Both THE ONTARIO TIM- BERWORKER. a union publi- cation, and the Communist Par- ty newspapers have carried stories about the death of these two unionists. In vireo they are also mentioned. briefly. in some labour eatin dealing with this period, What I want to do in this paper is to look at the death of Rosvall and Voutilainen as an hostorical event which has been capressed and given significan- ce by members of the Finnish working class community. It is first necessary to reconstruct the event and the manner in oy H remembered in this community. But it is also im- portant to ask: why has this story survived? | will argue that the main reason the story has lived on is because it gives an imaginative form to an experi- ence shared by many Finnish immigrant workers who were part of the industrial proletariat in Canada in the 1920's and 1930's. However, its significan- ce iS not restricted to Finnish immigrants alone. The story also expresses, in a microcosm the reality of the industrial struggle for the foreign-born workers in the earlydays of union building, when the obstacles to organiz- ing included = strikebreakers, company goons and the repres- sive use of the police and the militia, and when many casual- ties were suffered among those who could not placidly accept their role as industrial cannon fodder. For this reason it has LAO Ney Eteor es SOE Vata . Through parti- also caught the imagination of other working class Canadians. Rosvall, Voutilainen and the Shabaqua Strike: the Facts Rosvall and Voutilainen were members of the Lumber-’ workers Industrial Union of Canada. Inthe middle ofa bitter strike, on November 18, 1929. they were sent out to organize a group of camps in the Onion Lake area, 20 iniles North of Port Arthur. These camps belonged to the biggest lumber company in the area. the Pid- geon ‘River Timber Company, and they were operated by Finnish subsontractor Maki. The strike, which was held against this particular compa- ny. had already closed down 15 lumbereamps in nearby Sh aba- qua. Between 300 and 400 had walked out on October 22, when the subcontractors for ‘Pidgeon Timber’ refused to pay union rates: $5.00 for an cight-foot cord or $50.00 and ae for monthly men. How- ever, by the time Rosvall and Voutilainen Started = treikking through the woods towards O- nion Lake, some of the camps had re-opened and were opera- ting with strike breakers. The strike was particularly vehement, because much of the confrontation took place inside the Finnish enclave, among people who knew each other intimately. Several of the subcontractors, “japparit’, as the Finns called them, were Finnish, both the strikers and the strike breakers were pred- ominantly Finnish, and the u- nion which led the strike, the Lumberworkers Industrial Union of Canada, was organi- zed by Finns and had a Finnish executive. Even the rival union, which was creating problems because it had been excluded (Cont. next page.) THE LARGEST FUNERAL PROCESSION IN THE CITY’S HISTORY - - nearly 7, 000 took part - - around Port Arthur and up Bay. St: 7