Friends, family members and the labour community came together for a memorial ceremony in Falconbridge Tuesday morning to remember the day — June 20, 1984 — the day that a rockburst at the Falconbridge Mine took the lives of four Sudbury miners.
The Mine, Mill & Smelters Workers' Union Local 598/Unifor was joined by more than 100 friends and supporters who have pledged to always remember June 20 and how it represents the need to be always mindful of the importance of health and safety, especially in mining.
The memorial event was held at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 336 in Falconbridge to remember the tragedy that shocked Sudbury that day 39 years ago.
Mine Mill Local 598 president Eric Boulay welcomed the crowd and described some details of the event.
"On June 20, 1984, a seismic event measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale struck Falconbridge Mine at approximately 10:12 a.m.," Boulay said.
Three miners — Daniel Lavallee, Sulo Korpela, and Wayne Chenier — died in the initial rockburst. A fourth man, Wayne St. Michel, was discovered alive, but he was trapped in a rockfall. It was 27 hours later, just minutes from being rescued, that St. Michel died in the mine.
Four wreaths, bearing the names of the fallen miners, were on display at the memorial event.
The event featured several speakers who brought messages of condolence and remembrance in tribute to the men who died and in honour of the Sudbury workforce as a whole.
Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer said even now 39 years after the tragedy, it is still a sad reminder of the impact of workplace injury and death.
"These incidents impact not just the worker, but the family, friends, colleagues, and the community as a whole, as we can see here today. So as we gather to remember these men and all the other men and women who have been killed or injured in the workplace, we must remain united in our commitment to workplace health and safety," said Sizer.
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas said that she, like many others in the room, vividly remembered the day in 1984 when the rockburst hit.
"I was a health-care worker at the time. Going to my shift at the hospital, that's all we were talking about: getting ready to provide care to those four miners we knew were in distress after the earthquake. I remember the anxiety. I remember the stress. I remember the fear of that morning, as if it was this morning," said Gélinas.
She thanked the audience for taking the time to remember, to show they cared and to commit to make health and safety a priority each and every day.
Sudbury MPP Jamie West also spoke of how the memorial feels bittersweet to him, partly because of the sadness of remembering the four men who died in 1984 and also that he was pleased to see such a strong commitment from the labour community, striving to make things better.
“There's an expression on the April 28 Day of Mourning that states ‘we mourn for the dead and fight like hell for the living’. And that's why it's bittersweet. It's the hope, it's the memory that we don't just feel sad today; we recommit to fighting for the living. We recommit to making life better for those who are around, the workers who are counting on us," said West.
Dan Despatie, currently acting deputy chief for the Greater Sudbury Police Service, said the loss of any life in the workplace is a loss to the entire working community. Despatie said no industry is immune to death, injury and sickness.
"There's not a single day that goes by that those we have lost are not in our hearts and on our minds. Not a single person goes to work expecting to not return home. However, it's an unfortunate reality for far too many loved ones who have been left behind," said Despatie.
"And because of that, I just want to take a quick minute to acknowledge that family members, friends and coworkers here today of those who have lost loved ones or who care for a loved one after a serious workplace injury.”
Despatie said the goal is always better training, better policies and better procedures aimed at ensuring that people's health and safety is the main consideration.
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.
