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WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE

WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE. CONDITIONS WERE NOT GOOD FOR RETURNING SOLDIERS AFTER WW1 UNEMPLOYMENT WAS UP AS WAR FACTORIES CLOSED PRICES WERE HIGH AS PENT UP DEMAND FROM THE WAR WAS RELEASED SOLDIERS HAD HEALTH PROBLEMS AND OFTEN FACED THE FAMILY BREAKDOWN

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WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE

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  1. WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE • CONDITIONS WERE NOT GOOD FOR RETURNING SOLDIERS AFTER WW1 • UNEMPLOYMENT WAS UP AS WAR FACTORIES CLOSED • PRICES WERE HIGH AS PENT UP DEMAND FROM THE WAR WAS RELEASED • SOLDIERS HAD HEALTH PROBLEMS AND OFTEN FACED THE FAMILY BREAKDOWN • HOUSING WAS EXPENSIVE AND IN SHORT SUPPLY • MANY JOINED THE GREAT POOL OF FRUSTRATED LABOURERS • SPANISH INFLUENZA SWEEPS THROUGH CANADA AT THE END OF THE WAR – NO KNOWN CURE • CANADIAN GOVERNMENT SETS UP ‘DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH’ BUT 50,000 DIE

  2. UNIONS, WHILE LEGAL, DID NOT ENJOY ANY STATUS TO PROTECT MEMBERS • BEFORE THE WAR COAL STRIKES ON VANCOUVER ISLAND HAD BEEN DESTROYED WITH THE HELP OF POLICE AND MILITIA • COAL BARON ROBERT DUNSMUIR USED RACIAL DIVISIONSBETWEENCHINESE ANDWHITEMINERS TOBREAK ASTRIKE OVERMINE SAFETY BRITISH COLUMBIA MOUNTED POLICE, NANAIMO, 1913

  3. 1 MAY 1919 THE METALWORKERS’ AND BUILDERS’ UNIONS IN WINNIPEG STRUCK FOR BETTER WAGES AND IMPROVED WORKING CONDITIONS • OTHER WINNIPEG WORKERS JOIN THEM ON 15 MAY AND VIRTUALLY CLOSE DOWN THE CITY • THE STRIKE COMMITTEE FORMS TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SERVICES • THIS IS PERCEIVED BY BUSINESS & GOVERNMENT AS A ‘BOLSHEVIK UPRISING’ GENERAL STRIKE COMMITTEE

  4. ARTHUR MEIGHEN MINISTER OF JUSTICE • FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BELIEVES STRIKE IS PART OF A CONSPIRACY • SYMPATHY STRIKES BREAK OUT FROM PRINCE RUPERT TO SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA. J.S. WOODSWORTH METHODIST MINISTER “IN FACT IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH REVOLUTION, IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO MEET A VERY PRESSING AND IMMEDIATE NEED. AND NOW! NOW WE ARE BEING TOLD TO CELEBRATE PEACE! WHERAS THE PROFITEERS REIGN TRIUMPHANT, AND THE COST OF LIVING KEEPS RISING. THESE MED DID THEIR FAIR SHARE. NOW THE RICH SHOULD PAY THEIRS!” “REVOLUTIONISTS OF VARYING DEGREES AND TYPES, FROM CRAZY IDEALISTS DOWN TO ORDINARY THIEVES, WITH THE BETTER PART, PERHAPS OF THE LATTER TYPE.”

  5. STRIKERS ABOUT TO TEAR DOWN BOARD OF TRADE SIGN • MANY STRIKE LEADERS WERE BRITISH IMMIGRANTS • NEW LEGISLATION ALLOWING DEPORTATION WITHOUT DUE PROCESS • MANY POLICE REPLACED BY A SPECIAL MILITIA, EACH GIVEN A HORSE AND A BASEBALL BAT • 17 JUNE 1919, 12 STRIKE LEADERS SENT TO PRISON, NWMP GIVENORDER TO PUTDOWNDEMONSTRATIONWITH WHATEVERFORCE NECESSARY

  6. 21 JUNE 1919, VETERANS ORGANIZE A PARADE TO CHALLENGE RESTRICTIONS ON ASSEMBLY • 6,000 TURN OUT, DEMONSTRATORS TIP OVER AND TORCH A TRAM AS MAYOR GRAY READS THE RIOT ACT • ‘SPECIALS’ FOLLOWED BY NWMP RIDE INTO THE CROWD • 2 STRIKERS KILLED, DOZENS WOUNDED ON ‘BLOODY SATURDAY’ • 31 ARRESTS • NONE OF THE LEADERS WEREEVER CONVICTED • STRIKECOLLAPSES NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE CHARGE INTO DEMONSTRATION

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