Do You Know Slim Evans?
© Maria Dunn, 2004 SOCAN

Arthur "Slim" Evans was an organizer for the One Big Union (OBU) in the Drumheller Valley, Alberta, 1919-1924. The Canadian OBU (and Evans) quickly won the loyalty of the miners over the established United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), based in Indianapolis, which the miners felt was unresponsive to their concerns. When the coal companies refused to bargain with the OBU, the miners walked out. After a bitter and violent strike, the federal government forced the miners back into the UMWA and revoked their local autonomy for a year. Once they regained control over their local, the miners asked Slim Evans to be their business agent and secretary. In 1924, the UMWA charged Evans with "fraudulent conversion" for holding back local dues from head office. He had used the money to feed the families of miners who were on strike in the winter of 1921-22. Sentenced to three years in prison, Evans was free after nine months due to 8,700 supporters signing a petition on his behalf. He returned to British Columbia where he continued his activity in the labour movement and was one of the leaders of the 1935 On-to-Ottawa Trek.

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Do you know Slim Evans?
Friend of the working miner
I hear he's in Prince Albert jail doing three years time for
"Fraudulent conversion"
The judge's name for what he'd done
Feeding hungry familes from the union pie

Yes, I know Slim Evans
Friend of the working miner
Never was afraid to put himself on the line
Believed in the One Big Union
That's why they didn't want him
That's why feeding hungry families became a crime

Drumheller Valley in 1919
Soldiers returning from war
Arthur "Slim" Evans arrived on the scene
Saying "One Big Union's worth fighting for"
He spoke to the men in the Monarch Mine
"Together we can stand so strong
Make sure that our coal gets properly weighed
They won't get our labour for a song"

But the coal operators turned their backs
On this union we voted in
And walking out was our only power
We had nothing but our youth to spend
Well, the bosses bought old soldier boys
To put us strikers in our place
They tried to break our will by breaking our bones
With a gun or a fist in the face

Do you know Slim Evans?
Friend of the working miner
Sure could tell a story on the picket line
Filled our hearts with hope
But when he saw our cupboards empty
He knew that hungry families weren't far behind

Drumheller Valley in 1922
And still it's hard, hard times
'Cause that Yankee union chokes off our dues
Leaving us to struggle in the mines
They say One Big Union was one big mistake
We never should have made that choice
But when it comes to righting a wrong
We'll still be raising one big voice

Yes I know Slim Evans
Friend of the working miner
And yes I'll sign my name to petition his release
It's the least that I can do for
The man who put the money
Where our hungry mouths were and damn their union fees

Do you know Slim Evans?
Friend of the working miner
I hear he's out after only nine months in the pen
'cause eighty seven hundred
Very grateful families
Signed their names remembering why they called him friend

Maria Dunn vocal · Shannon Johnson harmony vocal ·
David Ward harmony vocal · Solon McDade upright bass ·
Craig Korth lead and rhythm guitar, dobro · Byron Myhre mandolin