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| Courtesy Working Class History, Facebook |
Had always thought that Cyprus got its name from copper, as it was a primary source of the metal from ancient times. Turns out it’s the other way round. Copper was named for the island (Greek kupros) which supplied so much of the metal - and a precious metal it was. Just think of the Bronze Age and remember that bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.
Not entirely ancient history either. This week marks the seventy-eighth anniversary of the miners strike when 4300 workers walked out in protest against dangerous and inhuman conditions at the American owned Cyprus Mining Company. The British colonial government and the Greek Orthodox Church both opposed the strike and the union federation attempted to recruit scabs. On March 3 police opened fire on the striking miners. The Democrat newspaper reported:
“Here in this place which our underground wealth comes from and flows into foreign and ungrateful pockets, the blood of hungry striking miners has been shed here…by the hands of the police. This blood will be an indelible stain on the history of the foreign company and colonial government.”
Eventually the workers were successful and ended up with collective agreements providing better pay, overtime, safer conditions and health benefits.
The mine, no longer active, is about fifty kilometres southwest of Lapta.
Information from Working Class History, Facebook.
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