Interview with Mike Plecas

Audio recording and transcript of Mike Plecas's 1979 interview with Myrtle Bergren for the Coal Tyee History Project. Plecas reflects on both his father's and his own jobs as miners. He explains how his father initially worked as a hard rock miner in Britannia Mine, but then the family moved to Vancouver Island and he became a coal miner, first in Cumberland and then in South Wellington and Granby. Plecas got his own job as a coal miner at the Number 1 Esplanade Mine when he was 19 years old, and after it shut down, he worked in the Northfield Mine. He talks about the working and safety conditions of both mines and about different pieces of mining equipment. Plecas also recalls several mining accidents, including Daisy Waugh's electrocution in the Number 1 and two of his own close calls in the Northfield Mine. He concludes the interview by talking about union organizing and his opinion on coal miners' attitudes towards the war effort.