The 1978-79 INCO Workers' Strike in the Sudbury Basin and Its Impact on Alcohol Consumption and Drinking Patterns

Abstract

y;)c M HANGE S in the pattern of aggregate alcohol consumption have been examined in conjunction with wide-ranging socioeconomic changes such as economic recessions, wars, or major shifts in control policies. This is evident in work by Bruun et al. (1), Brenner (2), Mikela (3), t5Q.0*o and Popham et al. (4). Studies in this area typically focus on large geopolitical areas, usually a country (e.g., 5). Few rccent studies have focused on much smaller geopolitical areas, such as the community, and the impact that purely local changes in socioeconomic conditions have on consumption. A recent workers' strike in the Sudbury basin of Ontario, Canada, has provided an opportunity for this level of analysis and, as well, for the examination of plausible alternative explanations for changes in alcohol consumption. The workers involved were primarily miners employed by the International Nickel Company (hereafter referred to as INCO) and members of Local 6500 of the United Steel Workers of America. Approximately 11,6oo workers were on strike for 81/2 months, from September 1i, 1978, to May 30, 1979. The strike involved the wages of family units representing 43,000 individuals, or about 26% of the population of metropolitan Sudbury. The 1978-79 strike is considered to be the longest against INCO, and ". . . in terms of lost man-hours (2.2 million) the longest strike in Canadian history" (6, p. 11).