Communist Party

Lest we forget! Murdered in Estevan by RCMP Today, 89 years ago, Nick Nargan, Julian Gryshko and Peter Markunus were murdered. "The union [Mine Workers Union L...ocal 27, Bienfait, Saskatchewan] set up bargaining committee for a first contract. The larger owners refused to come to the bargaining table and on September 7, 1931, 600 newly organized miners from the Souris coal fields went on strike. The miners had heard of the amazing woman union organizer in Winnipeg, and asked her to come to a rally on September 27 to support the workers and their families. Annie Buller arrived in Estevan to address the workers on September 27 and again on September 29, after a parade in support the striking miners. Annie spent her first day in Estevan touring the picket lines and meeting with women to help them sort the distribution of strike relief. Annie was horrified at the living conditions of the miners and their families. They were forced to rent substandard housing provided by the owners; forced to shop at the company store that charged higher prices than anyone in town; fined for purchasing items from the Eaton's catalogue and charged the difference in prices; cheated on the amount of coal they loaded on the carts; charged for the hot water in the company showers; paid far less than they were worth on a consistent basis. The mine owners along with town officials, of course, did not want the rally or any meeting afterwards to happen. The town council passed a last minute resolution the morning of the parade make it illegal to hold any demonstrations in the town of Estevan and asked the local police and RCMP to assist in enforcing the resolution. The resolution was delivered to the union leaders after the miners and their supporters had begun to rally at the parade start. What happened next we all know. Fifty miners were injured and three miners were shot and killed. Miner Nick Nargan was shot by the Police Chief through the heart when he picked up an axe to chop the fire hose that was spraying water on the protestors. Miner Julian Gryshko was shot dead when the Mounties opened fire on the protestors. Peter Markunus died when he was shot in the stomach and then forced to be driven 50 miles to the next nearest hospital after being refused treatment at the local hospital, by the same doctor that each miner paid $1.25 a month to for health coverage. (Bienfait, p. 9394). Annie, preparing her speech for the evening meeting that didn't happen, heard about the shootings and was assisted out of town and back to Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, she spoke at a quickly called meeting to drum up financial support for the miners. The police arrested another woman after the meeting, mistaking her for Annie, which luckily gave Annie the time to once again get out of town. This time she headed to Toronto, where she spoke at meetings to raise awareness and finances for the miners in Estevan. Annie was finally arrested on charges of incitement to riot, unlawful assembly and rioting and returned to Estevan. The charges against Annie were directly related to the other events happening in the party at the same time. In November, the Communist Eight were found guilty and sentenced to five years in jail effectively making it illegal to belong to the party. Annie Buller must also be made an example of, even if there wasn't real evidence to convict her! The police and owners spent the next several months concocting stories and finding willing sellouts to testify at her trial. Annie's commitment to the working class shone through the trial and appeal proceedings. Annie even led her own appeal during a decade when there were only 49 women even admitted to the legal profession. Let me read to you just a bit from her most eloquent defence: 'The blame must be laid at someone's door, and why not at mine? Mr. Perkins did not tell you why there was a strike; nor did he tell you that it was the conditions under which the miners worked and lived that forced them to organize a union and strike for human conditions. This, of course, would be portraying the struggle of the miners, and, of course, it is not Mr. Perkins job to do that. He is representing the Crown. I am representing the workers. I am not standing before you, Gentlemen of the Jury, as one who is trying to get out of a tight corner. I consider my efforts to assist the miners and their wives were worthwhile. (Bienfait, pp 1245) Gentlemen of the Jury, I am not apologizing for any of my actions. I cannot be justly convicted on this charge because I was not in Estevan at the time of the "riot" and my speech on the Sunday previous was not a speech inciting riot. When I face you here, I face you with my head held erect. I face you as a worker with ideals and convictions. Those ideals and convictions are linked with the tide of human progress. You cannot stop that tide of progress any more than you can stop the sea with a pitchfork. Regardless of what arguments or what legal points Mr. Sampson may raise, I am not guilty of this charge. But Mr. Sampson is the Crown Prosecutor, and it is his job to get a conviction. I have said before, and I say again, that it is not Annie Buller who is on trial here. It is the great class of producers that stand in the prisoners' dock, and not one realizes more than I, that the forces against us are very great. But, Gentlemen of the Jury, regardless of the outcome of this trial, I am going to remain loyal to my class, the workers class, the builders of the future.' (Afraid p. 61) Despite her eloquence and the sheer dishonesty of the charges against her, Annie was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison, which she served in North Battleford." - excerpt from "Annie Buller: Working Class Hero", Helen Kennedy, People's Voice Newspaper, March 2014 Photos: 1) Grave of the three miners shot and killed in Estevan in 1931 2) "Lest we forget!" cartoon by Avrom Yanovsky in The Worker, Sept 29, 1934. 3) Annie Buller addressing meeting in Bienfait, photo taken by RCMP and used as evidence against Buller supposedly proving that she had urged the miners to riot.