A CENTURY OF SOLIDARITY - THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Manitoba Federation of Labour
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
A CENTURY OF SOLIDARITY
ISSUE 1
Find all of your 1919-2019 event information online at:
MFL.CA/1919
AT.USW9074/DD.cope342
A CENTURY
OF SOLIDARITY
This coming year will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Today, Manitoba’s labour movement is hard at work preparing
Winnipeg General Strike, a crucially important event in the to celebrate the legacy of the Winnipeg General Strike
history of our labour movement and our country. For over six 100 years on. Over the coming months, we will be holding
weeks, Winnipeg was the site of one of the longest general many special events and presenting many commemorative
strikes in Canadian history, which would have a profound projects to celebrate this special anniversary. Winnipeg will
impact on the development of the modern labour movement also host a large number of union conferences in 2019, as
and Canadian politics for decades to come. labour organizations across the country mark this important
milestone.
Winnipeg in 1919 was a city rife with class conflict. Factories
were shutting down, and many soldiers returning from World We cannot stress enough how overwhelming the support
War One were unable to find decent work. Working families for the centennial celebration has been from the labour
resented the huge profits made during the war at the expense movement here in Manitoba and across Canada. Without the
of workers and soldiers. Inflation was out of control and the dedication of all of the unions recognized on the back page of
working class was unable to keep up. The cost of living had this newsletter, none of these events would happen.
risen 64 per cent since 1913. Workers demanded the right
to collective bargaining and a decent, living wage – rights we We have developed this newsletter to provide important STREETCAR TO SERVE AS PERMANENT
continue to defend today. information about the events and legacy pieces that will
mark the exciting year ahead, but also to provide readers will MONUMENT TO WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE
Over the course of the six weeks-long strike, business and intriguing content to bring the history and importance of the By Noam Gonick
industry ground to a halt, with the central strike committee strike alive. We hope that you continue to turn to the pages
coordinating only essential services (like milk deliveries). of upcoming newsletters to find out more information about
Many peaceful protests and marches were held, even in the exciting things that are in the works for 2019 here in The countdown to the 100th Anniversary of the 1919 The overturned streetcar is one of the most enduring images
the face of violence carried out by the so-called ‘specials’, Manitoba. Winnipeg General Strike is well underway. from the six week-long strike. During this time, trolley car
replacement police officers hired by the Citizens’ Committee service was one of many services halted by the strike, as the
The strike was an important catalyst for the development of city came to a near standstill, with only essential services
of 1000 (Winnipeg’s business elite) and provided with wagon
Canada’s modern-day labour movement. One of the concrete continuing through coordination of the Strike Committee.
spokes as weapons to use against the strikers, after the regular In solidarity, takeaways from this seminal event in Canadian history is the
city police force stood in solidarity with other striking workers.
most famous image of the tipped streetcar surrounded by Then, on June 21, in the midst of a 30,000 strong peaceful
Kevin Rebeck and Basia Sokal
The aftermath of the strike saw the institution of a minimum onlookers photographed by L.B. Foote. rally at City Hall, a streetcar appeared on Main Street,
Co-chairs of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike Centennial
wage, improved workplace health and safety laws, in provocative defiance of the strike. The tipping of the
Committee Until last year, the only acknowledgment of this historical
employment standards, and eventually many of the labour streetcar, and the violent response by mounted police, which
moment was a plaque hidden in the underground walkway included shooting and killing Mike Sokowolski and Mike
rights we have today. It was also a catalyst for strengthened
beneath City Hall. The Winnipeg Arts Council is overseeing Schezerbanowicz (who died later of gangrene), is widely
labour-oriented political parties, first with the Canadian
this project with help from Heritage Canada. Sculpter Bernie considered to have been the inevitable result of an economic
Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and then with the New
Miller and I set out to create a memorial streetcar in bronze elite bent on inciting anger and chaos to bring about an end
Democratic Party (NDP).
adjacent to the site of Bloody Saturday on the present-day to the strike.
Pantages Playhouse Plaza at Market and Main Street, one of
the city’s busiest intersections. With construction of the replica streetcar now well underway,
we expect the art piece will be on display by next summer,
We wanted a visually impactful work illuminated at night, its serving as a permanent site to honour the legacy of the strike,
Kevin Rebeck Basia Sokal
President, Manitoba President, Winnipeg angular profile sinking into the plaza’s surface, connecting us to celebrate the important gains of the last century, and to
Federation of Labour Labour Council back across the century to L.B. Foote’s famous photo. organize for the debates and struggles still to come.
DMS Industrial Contractors - a unionized shop - are preparing
to weld the sub-frame for a replica of the Brill streetcar that
was tipped off its tracks and set ablaze.
P. 2 P. 7
1919-2019 Newsletter // Issue 1
WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE FOUGHT FOR
MANY OF THE RIGHTS WORKERS ENJOY TODAY
By Sharon Reilly
On 15 May 1919, some 35,000 Winnipeg workers joined From 1894 - 1918, workers’ concerns were discussed in The
together to launch what would become known as the (People’s) Voice, published by the Winnipeg Trades and Labor
Winnipeg General Strike to demand better wages and the Council. In 1918, this paper was succeeded by the Western
right to collective bargaining. Labor News.
The high unemployment and poor working and living Articles here and in the socialist-oriented publications of non-
conditions that led to the strike had their roots in the growth English speaking groups reflected the intense debate among
of the city itself. Campaigns by civic and commercial leaders to socialists and labourists over labour's involvement in politics.
attract immigrants for agriculture and industry resulted in the Winnipeg became a centre for political activism in Canada and
dramatic growth of Winnipeg's population from 26,000, in supported influential locals of the Socialist Party of Canada,
May 25, 2019 1891, to 162,000 in 1916.
Thousands of immigrants settled in Winnipeg’s North End,
where factories and warehouses bordered the rail yards that
Social Democratic Party, Independent Labor Party, and other
organizations.
Mutual benefit societies also flourished in Winnipeg in these
stretched across the city. These neighbourhoods supported years. These groups reflected their members' belief that
UFCW PARADE
vibrant German, Ukrainian, Jewish, Polish, British and economic security and social improvement for the poor could
other working-class communities with their own political, only come from collective association.
educational, religious and cultural institutions.
Events during the war brought socialists and labourists
These neighbourhoods were noisy, crowded and sooty. together to search for new strategies to fight for workers’
THE PARADE RUNS FROM THE EXCHANGE DISTRICT TO MEMORIAL PARK Houses were often cheaply made and subdivided so landlords rights. By 1918, labour meetings in Winnipeg increasingly
could rent more rooms. Sanitation was poor, and these areas heard the call for a One Big Union (OBU) and general strike.
were hit especially hard by outbreaks of typhoid, tuberculosis,
flu and pneumonia. The Winnipeg General Strike sought to achieve collective
P. 6 bargaining and a living wage for all workers. Many strikers
Many residents became active in labour unions and socialist shared a vision of a new society created through democratic
politics to improve their living conditions. The solidarity of processes. As they wrote in 1919, "workers want control of
Winnipeg workers in 1919 was rooted in labour activism that industry in their own hands as soon as possible so they can
began decades before. By the 1900s, a powerful craft union get the full product of their toil and eliminate production for
CUPE CONCERT
movement had emerged and many strikes were fought before profit. But they will wait until this is accomplished through
the First World War. constitutional processes."
During the war workers experienced low wages, cutbacks in
some trades, and speed-ups in others. Many workers faced
Featuring James Keelaghan, Heather Bishop, Maria Dunn, Red Moon Road, dangerous and unhealthy work. Child labour was common.
David Rovics and more Inflation meant a decline in real income, and after the war
ended many industries closed. Lay-offs and the return of
Family Area sponsored by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society unemployed soldiers increased unemployment significantly.
Strike activity rose sharply across Canada during and after the
war. In May 1918, a general strike of civic workers was averted
Food Court Sponsored by the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals through last minute negotiations.
1919-2019 Newsletter // Issue 1 P. 6 P. 3
1918
DECEMBER 22
Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council (WTLC)
meeting at Walker Theater protests the anti-
labour War Measures Act.
1919 MAY 15 MAY 31, JUNE 1, AND JUNE 3 JUNE 16-17 JULY AND AUGUST 1920
The Winnipeg General Strike begins. The Thousands of returned soldiers take part in a Metal-trades employers propose a The Strike Committee reorganizes as the
JANUARY 10 first to walk out were the ‘Hello Girls’ – march in solidarity with the strike. settlement to the strike. At the same time, Defence Committee to support the strike JANUARY – FEBRUARY
Socialist Party of Canada meeting at Majestic Winnipeg’s telephone operators. By 11 a.m., the Royal Northwest Mounted Police leaders facing trial. Strike leader Fred Dixon is acquitted.
Theatre calls for end of capitalism. 30,000 union and non-union workers had JUNE 3 (RNWMP) raid labour halls and strike
walked off the job. The Citizens’ Committee of 1000 calls for leaders’ homes, arresting ten leaders of the SEPTEMBER 2 JANUARY – APRIL
MARCH 13 deportation of “aliens,” claiming that the Central Strike Committee. A parade of 8,000 workers walks in support Strike leader A.A. Heaps is acquitted but
At the Western Labour Conference in Calgary, MAY 16 General Strike is the result of agitation from of the arrested strike leaders. A national leader R.E. Bray is sentenced to six months
delegates vote to form the revolutionary One Winnipeg’s business community forms the immigrants – ads are run in Winnipeg daily JUNE 18 campaign is launched to raise funds for their in prison. Leaders John Queen, Bill Pritchard,
Big Union. Citizens’ Committee of 1000 to oppose the papers calling for “alien” deportation. It’s announced that arrested strike leaders defence. William Ivens, Richard Johns, and George
strike. will be held for deportation proceedings and Armstrong all receive one-year jail terms.
MAY 1 Sympathetic strikes are held in Brandon, will also be denied bail. DECEMBER 23
After months of negotiations, all unions MAY 17 Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, R.B Russell sentenced to two years at SEPTEMBER
belonging to the Building Trades Council go The Strike Committee requests meeting with Toronto and Amherst, Nova Scotia. JUNE 21 Stony Mountain Penitentiary for seditious One Big Union Headquarters moved to
on strike. City to discuss maintenance of essential In what would come to be known as “Bloody conspiracy. Winnipeg from Vancouver, under attack from
services. The Strike Committee goes on JUNE 4 AND 5 Saturday,” a silent protest of the arrest of the governments, businesses, and conservative
MAY 2 to issue authorization cards for essential Anti-strike Veterans parade. strike leaders is attacked by Mounted Police trade unionists.
Metal Trades Council workers call a strike. services such as milk deliveries. and ‘Specials’, resulting in the wounding of
JUNE 6 34 people, two deaths, and 84 arrests. OCTOBER 5
MAY 6 MAY 22 The federal government amends The In the Manitoba provincial election, Fred
In light of the refusal of employers to Arthur Meighen, Acting Minister of Justice, Immigration Act to allow for the deportation, JUNE 25 Dixon, John Queen, George Armstrong, and
bargain with the Building Trades Council and and Senator Gideon Robertson, Minster of without trial, of anyone not born in Canada The Strike Committee announces the end of William Ivens are elected to seats in the
the Metal Trades Council, the WTLC resolves Labour, arrive in Winnipeg. accused of sedition. strike and calls upon workers to continue the Legislature on a united slate of Independent
to poll affiliates on a general sympathetic struggle in the political arena. Labour Party and Socialist Party candidates.
strike. MAY 25 JUNE 8
Senator Robertson orders postal employees J.S. Woodsworth returns to Winnipeg and JUNE 26 NOVEMBER 20
MAY 13 to return to work. The province and city issue addresses 10,000 workers. The Winnipeg General Strike Winnipeg Civic Election: Three Independent
Results of the WTLC general strike vote similar orders to their employees. A meeting ends at 11 a.m. Labor Party members elected to City Council
were overwhelming supportive: 8,667 for, of 5,000 strikers at Victoria Park rejects these JUNE 9 and three to School Board.
645 against. A general Strike Committee ultimatums. Winnipeg’s Mayor Charles Gray fires the
is formed with representation from every entire city police force for refusing the City’s
union. MAY 30 demand to renounce the union and strike, 1921
City police are ordered to sign anti-union and hires ‘Specials’ to replace them. The
pledge. They refuse but promise to uphold ‘Specials’ were recruited and paid for by J.S. Woodsworth is elected to the House of
law and order. the Citizens’ Committee of 1000 and were Commons as a member of the Independent
armed with baseball bats. Labour Party.
1925
A.A. Heaps is elected to the House of
Commons as a member of the Independent
Labour Party.
1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925
1919-2019 Newsletter // Issue 1 P. 4 P. 5
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