Interview with Jim Galloway

Transcript of Jim Galloway's 1979 interview with Myrtle Bergren for the Coal Tyee History Project. Galloway shares details from his long career as a coal miner, which started when he was 13 years old in Scotland and finished on Vancouver Island when he was 65. He talks about his arrival in Canada in 1909 and the lead up to the Vancouver Island Coal Miners' Strike in 1912. He shares his understanding of how the strike started after two gas committee members were laid off in Cumberland, and some of the impacts of the strike in Cumberland and Extension. Galloway was out of work for two years and he talks about what it was like during that time. Throughout the interview he touches on several aspects of coal mining work including conditions in the mine, jobs and wages, accidents, and how mules were used.