OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected a damage award for widows of the miners slain during the bitter 1992 Giant Mine strike.
In September 1992, a bomb exploded in the mine near Yellowknife, killing nine men.
The widows and James O'Neil -- the first man on the scene of the bombing -- sued the union, and mine owners Pinkertons of Canada Ltd.
They argued that the owners and the union should have known the dangers and had a duty of protection to the victims.
A lower court agreed in 2004 and ordered the defendants to pay $10.7 million.
The Northwest Territories Court of Appeal overturned that decision, along with the award, and the widows appealed to the Supreme Court.
Among other issues, the case centred on when a national union may be held liable for wrongs committed by a member during a strike.
Roger Warren, a striking miner, was convicted in 1995 of nine counts of murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.
