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Canada After the War

Canada After the War. What we will learn today:. Situation in Canada after WW1 Relationship between Situation in Canada & the Labour movement “ One Big Union ” , “ Winnipeg General Strike ”. Key Words. Collective Bargaining One Big Union (OBU) General Strike Winnipeg General Strike

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Canada After the War

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  1. Canada After the War

  2. What we will learn today: • Situation in Canada after WW1 • Relationship between Situation in Canada & the Labour movement • “One Big Union”, “Winnipeg General Strike”

  3. Key Words • Collective Bargaining • One Big Union (OBU) • General Strike • Winnipeg General Strike • Citizens Committee of One Thousand • Bloody Saturday

  4. Areas of Change

  5. Things to think about when brainstorming the situation in Canada • Who is in Canada • Available Jobs • Wages & rights of workers • Emotions & Feelings (of soldiers, families, workers, business owners)Expectations (of soldiers, families, wives, working women, business owners, workers) • What are the expectations of: • The returning soldiers • The women (working women, wife of soldier, • Businesses & Business Owners • The workers who worked during WW1 • The country of Canada

  6. Read p. 49/50

  7. Response to Situation Post WW1 • Workers demanded: • Higher wages • Better working conditions • Right to join Unions • Resulted in Strikes (stopping work) by Union & employees “Confrontation between workers & employers was inevitable”

  8. Power in #’s • Idea of Unions is to gain negotiating influence with businesses by representing lots of employees • In March 1919 “One Big Union” (OBU) was created…represented ALL workers in Canada (mostly Western Canada) • Main Weapon for OBU => General Strike (a walkout by all employees

  9. The Winnipeg General Strike (1919) Canada’s Post-war Economy and Workers’ Rights Movement

  10. The Strike Begins… • The Winnipeg General Strike began May, 1919. • Winnipeg’s metal and building workers walked off their jobs. • Workers demanding higher wages, a shorter working week and the right to collective bargaining. • Collective Bargaining = Allows Union to negotiate (working conditions, wages, etc) for union members • Why would collective bargaining be opposed by employers?

  11. The Strike Grows… • The Gazette, May 17, 1919 (Montreal) The strike which is in progress in Winnipeg presents features which merit serious consideration. The trouble, which was confined previously to the metal and building trades, has become general. From fifteen to twenty-five thousand employees have left their work, and all branches of commercial and industrial activities of the city are affected. What services do you think stopped during the strike?

  12. A City “Paralyzed” • Post office employees • Firemen • Street railway employees • Telephone, power and waterworks employees • Railway workers • Newspapers

  13. Citizens Committee of One Thousand • A counter-strike committee, the "Citizens' Committee of One Thousand", was created by Winnipeg's wealthy elite. • The Committee declared the strike to be a violent, revolutionary conspiracy by a small group of foreigners. • The Citizens’ Committee saw the strike as attempting to overthrow the Canadian government.

  14. “Clean out the Bolshevists” • The Times, May 20, 1919 (Toronto) Winnipeg is a warning to the rest of Canada. The object of the One Big Union is plain. It is the aim of the Reds who dominate that organization to use mass-power, in defiance of agreements, for the overturning of organized society.The Times agrees with Major-General McRae that there should be a "clean-up" of the revolutionary agitators and foreign undesirables who infest the country.

  15. What do you think is taking place in the photo? • Why would citizens attack this streetcar?

  16. The Government Reacts • The federal government was worried that protest would spread to other cities • The Immigration Act was changed to allow foreign-born union leaders to be deported • The mayor of Winnipeg fired much of the police force and arrests strike leaders

  17. Which side of the strike do the people in this photo support?

  18. “Bloody Saturday” • On June 21, strikers held a parade to protest the mayor’s actions

  19. “Bloody Saturday” Cont’d… • The parade turned violent when the Royal North West Mounted Police charged into the crowd

  20. The Strike Ends • One striker died; 30 were injured; and many more were arrested • 43 days after it began, the strike was over

  21. Short Term Outcome • 7 out of 10 strike leaders convicted of trying to overthrow the government; sentenced to prison terms • Many striking workers not rehired • Many forced to sign agreements promising not to join a union • Tensions between labour and business get worse

  22. Long Term Outcome • The Royal Commission investigated the strike concluded the strike was not a criminal conspiracy by foreigners and suggested that: • "if Capital does not provide enough to assure Labour a contented existence ... then the Government might find it necessary to step in and let the state do these things at the expense of Capital." • If the province doesn’t solve the problem with the workers, the Canadian government will step in and resolve the issue

  23. HW • Winnipeg General Strike HW Questions

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