1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. Before we get started today, we have a 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: cool announcement to make. We are going to be in Gettysburg, 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania for a live show on June twenty nine, nineteen. 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: That is part of Great Conversations at Gettysburg. That is 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: a whole day of programming. Our part is at four 6 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: pm when we will be doing Fearless, Feisty and Unflagging 7 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: the Women of Gettysburg. You can find out more information 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: about this by coming to our website clicking in the 9 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: menu where it says live shows, or just go to 10 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 1: Missed in History dot com slash shows Again. That's June 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: twenty nine, nineteen in Gettysburg. Welcome to Stuff You Missed 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: in History Class the production of I Heart Radios How 13 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy 14 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: Vie Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Holly, We've had kind 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: of a run of nineteen nineteen episodes recently. You know, 16 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,319 Speaker 1: we did not plan that. It just keeps happening. Yeah, 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: we had a collection of of centennials slash coincidences. We 18 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: have one more. I think this is the last, at 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: least in terms of what I have on my plate, 20 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: like this is the last nine nine thing for a bit, 21 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: I mean no promises, I don't know. I'll sign out 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: halfway through a thing that it's related to nineteen nineteen 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 1: and then be like, well, here we go. So we said. 24 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: We've gotten several listener requests for the center over the 25 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: last few months as well, including from Adrian, Donna and Sheina. 26 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: And this one is the Winnipeg General Strike of nineteen nineteen. 27 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: It has some things in common with last month's episode 28 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: on the Limerick Soviet Some of the context is similar. 29 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: Both things involve strikes that basically shut down a whole city, 30 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: But otherwise these two events have a lot of differences 31 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: both and how they progressed and then their impact on 32 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: their respective countries. So even though we just talked about 33 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: a strike, they're very different stories. In the wake of 34 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: World War One, Canada was facing many of the same 35 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: issues that have come up in our other recent nineteen 36 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: nineteen episodes. During the war, or the cost of living 37 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: had risen dramatically as much as seventy in some parts 38 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: of the country. Wages had risen by more like ten 39 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: to fifteen percent, so working people were facing huge financial difficulties. 40 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: Most working people weren't making enough money to pay for 41 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: food for their families, let alone meeting their other basic needs. 42 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,679 Speaker 1: On top of all that, as the military was demobilized 43 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: after the war, soldiers and sailors were returning home just 44 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: as wartime industries were setting down. This was happening in 45 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: other parts of the world too. Unemployment was a huge problem, 46 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: and there wasn't a lot of transition support for these 47 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: returning veterans when they were trying to re enter civilian life, 48 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: often without being able to find a job. As was 49 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: happening in the United States, Canada was also in the 50 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: middle of a red scare following the nineteen seventeen Russian Revolution. 51 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: It was a climate of suspicion and fear of Bolshevism 52 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: and communism. These fears weren't just a reaction to the revolution, though, 53 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: they were also a response to changing patterns of immigration. 54 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: These changes were happening in much of the country, but 55 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: since today's episode is about events in Winnipeg, Manitoba, we 56 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,359 Speaker 1: are going to focus on that part of it before them. 57 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: At eighteen hundreds, most Europeans in Manitoba were French. French 58 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: Canadians became a minority in Manitoba in the eighteen seventies 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: and eighteen eighties, as large numbers of people of British 60 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: ancestry arrived from Britain as well as from other parts 61 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: of Canada, particularly Ontario, which is the province next door. 62 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: But in the nineteen hundreds and nineteen teens, more and 63 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: more people started immigrating to Canada, and specifically to Manitoba, 64 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: from Russia and Eastern Europe. The population of Winnipeg sword 65 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: to about one hundred ninety thousand people, making it Canada's 66 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: third largest city, with a significant population of Slavic and 67 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: Jewish immigrants. These shifting demographics sparked a deep sense of 68 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: racism and resentment among Anglo Canadians, who feared these immigrants 69 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: weren't assimilating into British Canadian society, and we're bringing Bolshevis 70 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: them and Communism to Canada with them. Slavic and Jewish 71 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: immigrants definitely weren't the only people facing discrimination and racism 72 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: in Winnipeg. In nineteen nineteen, the region's first nation's population 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: had been forced onto reserves under a series of treaties 74 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: and laws, including the Indian Act of eighteen seventy six. 75 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: These were meant to eradicate First Nations cultures and to 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: force assimilation into European Canadian and particularly Anglo Canadian society. 77 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: These laws did not apply to the Mate, who were 78 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: people of both European and Indigenous ancestry, and Winnipeg had 79 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: a significant Metti population. Many lived in the outer edge 80 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: of southwest Winnipeg in a community known as Rooster Town. 81 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: The origins of that particular name are not clear, but 82 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: before nineteen nineteen, many of Winnipeg's Metti population worked delivering 83 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: water door to door. But early that year, construction was 84 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: finished on an aqueduct that connected Winnipeg to Shoal Lake, 85 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: providing the city with a new supply of fresh water. 86 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: But Shoal Lake was in a a Shnabe territory, so 87 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: the completion of this aqueduct was delivering water to Winnipeg, 88 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: but it was doing so by taking water from the 89 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,799 Speaker 1: an a Shnabe, specifically from the Shoal Lake forty Reserve, 90 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: who were not really consulted or even considered during this process, 91 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: and this is something that has never been resolved. The 92 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: aqueducts construction created what was basically an artificial island, so 93 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 1: Shoal Lake forty is literally surrounded by Winnipeg's supply of 94 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: fresh water, but has been under a boil order for 95 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: its own water for more than twenty years. The aqueducts 96 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: completion also put much of Winnipeg's Mayti population out of work, 97 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: and there were few other industries open to them. All 98 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: of this was underpinning the Winnipeg General Strike of nineteen nineteen, 99 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: although on its surface, the strike started out as a 100 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: simple labor dispute. During the nineteen teens, many of Canada's 101 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: industries were starting to unionize and union membership was growing dramatically, 102 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,479 Speaker 1: but this process was really inconsistent from one industry to another, 103 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: and even in different parts of the same industry. By 104 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: the end of World War One, workers in some industries 105 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,799 Speaker 1: had formed unions, but those unions were not recognized yet. 106 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: Others had formed unions that were recognized and had negotiated 107 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: contracts for their members, but hadn't been as successful as 108 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: they had hoped for getting terms that they wanted. The 109 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: nature of the unions themselves had also started to shift. 110 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: Most of Canada's first unions were craft unions, and they 111 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: were connected to one specific trade. Members of the unions 112 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: all did the same essential job, and the union's focus 113 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: was on workplace issues that were very specific to its 114 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: members and their craft. But by the late nineteen teens, 115 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: a lot of industries were shifting over to an industrial 116 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: union model, where, for example, everyone who worked for the 117 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: railroad was part of a railroad workers union, regardless of 118 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: exactly what type of work they were doing for the railroad. 119 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: As a general trend, industrial unions were more focused on 120 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: politics than craft unions were. Both types of unions might 121 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: vote to strike over things like pay or working conditions, 122 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: but industrial unions also tried to get members or sympathetic 123 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: people into the government to change the laws that affected 124 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: their workplaces and industries. During the First World War, most 125 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: Canadians had considered it unpatriotic for workers to go on strike, 126 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: and then in the later part of the war, an 127 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: order in Council prohibited workers from striking. Once the war 128 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: was over, though, and that ordering council was nullified, things 129 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: started to change. More unions started using strikes as a 130 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: tool to try to improve their pay and working conditions, 131 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: but even so, the victories tended to be really small. 132 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: A successful strike might involve a wage increase of just 133 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: a few pennies, and this wasn't unique to Canada or 134 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: to nineteen nineteen. It was part of a pattern in 135 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: many parts of the world, both before and after nineteen nineteen. 136 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighteen, for example, a partial general strike in 137 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: Winnipeg secured higher wages for the members of four civic unions. 138 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: Winnipeg nine strike started with its metal and building workers. 139 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: Both of these industries had lots of small unions that 140 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: had established councils to try to represent all of them together. 141 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: These were the Building Trades Council and the Metal Trades Council. 142 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: The idea was that the unions had more bargaining power 143 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: than workers did individually. But then these councils had more 144 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: bargaining power than the individual unions did if they were 145 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: trying to negotiate separately. But the metal and building industries 146 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: had nearly opposite responses to this attempt to collectively bargain. 147 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: The Builders Exchange was open to the idea of negotiating 148 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: with the Building Trades Council. Negotiating with all the builders 149 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: unions at once seemed like an efficient way to get 150 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: one contract in place that applied to everyone. But even 151 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: though the Builders Exchange was expecting a post war housing boom, 152 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: it didn't think it could meet the Building Trades Councils 153 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: demands for better pay. Meanwhile, when of PEG's three biggest 154 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: metal working companies were Manitoba Bridge and Iron Works, the 155 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: Vulcan Iron Works, and the Dominion Bridge Company, these were 156 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: together known as the Big Three. While the Builders Exchange 157 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: was expecting to get more work after the war, a 158 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: lot of the metal production had been tied to wartime 159 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: industries that were being shut down, So the Big Three 160 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: weren't really open to negotiating with the entire Metal Trades 161 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: Council at once. They thought they would get better terms 162 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: by working with the nineteen member unions individually. They also 163 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: sort of seemed more interested in saying that they supported 164 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 1: workers rights to collectively bargain than in actually recognizing in 165 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: bargaining with the unions. People felt like they were getting 166 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: a lot of lip service from them. On May one, 167 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: the Building Trades Council voted to go on strike, having 168 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: been unsuccessful in their negotiations for higher wages. The next day, 169 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: the members of the Metal Trades Council walked off the 170 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: job as well, not only because they wanted better pay, 171 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: A forty hour work week, but also because they wanted 172 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,839 Speaker 1: the Big Three to recognize the Metal Trades Council as 173 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: their collective bargaining unit. These weren't the only workers voting 174 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: to strike. Winnipeg street car workers voted to strike at 175 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: about the same time, although their strike didn't start immediately, 176 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: and then in mid May, workers and other industries throughout 177 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: the city joined the building and metal workers in a 178 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: sympathetic strike. And we'll talk more about that after a 179 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: sponsor break. The Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council, or w TLC, 180 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: is a labor council that represents the whole collection of 181 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: member unions, and it still exists today. On May six, 182 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 1: the w TLC pulled its members about whether to join 183 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: the building and Metal unions in a sympathetic strike, and 184 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: the result was an overwhelming yes, with more than eleven 185 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: thousand people voting in favor of going on strike and 186 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 1: fewer than six hundred voting now. People voting yes generally 187 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: wanted to support the striking building and metal workers and 188 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,200 Speaker 1: to reinforce the idea of collective bargaining in Winnipeg. People 189 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: voting no did so for a number of reasons. Some 190 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: thought that a strike wasn't necessary in this case. Others 191 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: were in lower paying industries and didn't think they should 192 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: have to go without income to support people who were 193 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 1: at the higher end of the pace gale. For Winnipeg's 194 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: unionized workers, the general strike began at eleven am on 195 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: May fifteen. That was the official start time, although some 196 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: people were striking earlier than that. Some of the first 197 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: workers to walk out were the switchboard operators, also known 198 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: as the Hello Girls. They clocked out at the end 199 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: of their shift at seven am, and the next shift 200 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: didn't come on to replace them. Also among the first 201 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: to walk out where the bread and cake workers, which 202 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: was another largely female occupation with shifts that ended in 203 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: the very early morning hours. The sympathetic strike included both 204 00:11:55,040 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: public and private employees. Public employees included police and firefighters, 205 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: postal workers, utility workers. Private employees included people who worked 206 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: in factories and shops and in transportation. About thirty thousand 207 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: workers went on strike, and about half of those participating 208 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: did so even though they weren't in a union. This 209 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: brought the entire city to an almost immediate stand still. 210 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: A strike committee was also established to manage the strike 211 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: itself and to keep essential services running as the strike 212 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: was going on. It's fifty three members were elected from 213 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,959 Speaker 1: each of the w TLC's member unions. Two of the 214 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: committee were women. Meanwhile, Winnipeg's business and civic leaders formed 215 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 1: the Citizens Committee of one thousand to both oppose the 216 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: strike and to recruit people to replace the striking workers 217 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: and essential industries. The Citizens Committee was extremely secretive, and 218 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: it wasn't always clear who was and wasn't a member, 219 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: and which efforts they were organizing and which were being 220 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: handled by other people. In general, though many of its 221 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: members came from Winnipeg Board of Trade, the Winnipeg branch 222 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, and the Manitoba Bar Association. 223 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: Shortly after the strike started, the Citizens Committee, the Strike Committee, 224 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: and representatives from the Winnipeg government all met to try 225 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: to work out a plan to keep things like the 226 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,559 Speaker 1: switchboards and the water system, and milk and bread delivery 227 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: and firefighting operational. The result was an agreement that these 228 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: types of services could continue to operate with a permit 229 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: that was issued by the Strike Committee. This included things 230 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: like the milk delivery trucks having placards in the front 231 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: that they were quote permitted by authority of the Strike Committee, 232 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: very similar to some of the businesses during the Limerick 233 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: strike we talked about exactly. Here's an explanation published by 234 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: William Ivan's in the Western Labor News on May seventeen. 235 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: It ran under the headline why some industries are running, 236 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 1: and it read quote theaters and picture shows are running 237 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: under strike permit so that the worker can keep off this. Treats, 238 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: milk and bread concerns are running under permits to feed 239 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: the people. Hospitals are given permits so that the sick 240 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: may not suffer. Water is kept at low pressure rather 241 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: than cut off, so that the workers shall be able 242 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: to get it. Light is supplied for the same reason. 243 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,560 Speaker 1: So it is with all these industries that work under 244 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: permit of the strike Committee. They are supplying the prime 245 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 1: necessities of life to the workers so that the fight 246 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: may be carried on until it is one. All these 247 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: concerns are organized fully and could be stopped at a 248 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: minute's notice, but for the present the Strike Committee believes 249 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: that it is better to let them run, hence its 250 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: order for them to stay on the job under permit. 251 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: The Citizens Committee and the Winnipeg government were deeply opposed 252 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: to the idea that essential services were being permitted by 253 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: the strike Committee. That seems too much like the strike 254 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: Committee had just decided when and how to run the city. 255 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: So the Citizens Committee and the government started focusing their 256 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: attention on breaking the strike and on getting people back 257 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: to work as soon as possible. To that end, the 258 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: Citizens Committee organized its own volunteers to replace striking workers. 259 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: This included six hundred people to operate the telephone and 260 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: telegraph exchange, a volunteer fire department, and a volunteer security 261 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: team to guard the fireboxes so that the fire department 262 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: wasn't driven to exhaustion by false alarms. Some of the 263 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: false alarms were pranks, and others were meant to intentionally 264 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: harass the strike breakers. The Citizens Committee also brought in 265 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: volunteers to pump gas at the gas stations and to 266 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: run the pumps in the municipal water system. The Strike 267 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: Committee announced all these volunteer groups as scabs. But there 268 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: was a whole other layer to all of this besides 269 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: just the striking workers on one side and the Citizens 270 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: Committee in the city government on the other side. The 271 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: government and the Citizens Committee also became absolutely convinced that 272 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: this was not a simple labor dispute at all. Instead, 273 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: they believed that radical communists and Bolshevists had infiltrated Winnipeg's 274 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: labor movement, and that this was a coordinated effort to 275 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: violently overthrow the government of Winnipeg and replace it with 276 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: a Communist dictatorship. This idea was there right from the 277 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: beginning and was part of the reporting in most, but 278 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: not all, of the newspapers covering the story. For example, 279 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: on May sixteenth, the Vancouver World ran a headline that 280 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: read Soviet government is in control in Winnipeg. On mayo, 281 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: in the Winnipeg Citizen quote the Red Element which planned 282 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: to bring about anarchy in this country and on the 283 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: ruins build a tyranny is made up of a small 284 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: junta of avowed Bolshevists who have succeeded by persistent scheming 285 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: in taking the place of the same leaders with an 286 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: almost solid foreign born following. Also connected to all of 287 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: this was the idea of one big union which would 288 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: represent all the workers in Western Canada. This was a 289 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: real idea. The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada had 290 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: discussed it at the Western Labor Conferences on March thirteenth 291 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: of nineteen nineteen. But the One Big Union didn't exist yet, 292 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,879 Speaker 1: and it would not formally form in Calgary until June fourth, 293 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: at which point the strike was well under way. Even so, 294 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: there was this widespread perception that the One Big Union 295 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: was behind the strike and that all of it was 296 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: an alien plot. They came to this conclusion even though 297 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: that union didn't exist yet. It did not help that 298 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: the One Big Union idea was also connected to the 299 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: Industrial Workers of the World ak the Wobblies, which were 300 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,439 Speaker 1: so widely reviled and were the targets and producers of 301 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: so much propaganda that it is still hard to tell 302 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: what was real and what wasn't. We talked about them 303 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,199 Speaker 1: in our Bisbee deportation episode. Just ignore the times that 304 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: we accidentally called them the International Workers of the World. 305 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: You know, that was my fault. Sometimes these things happened. 306 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: To be clear, there were certainly Bolshevists and Communists among 307 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: Winnipeg's labor unions and among the striking workers. The striking 308 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: workers were not a modelith. Some wanted to strike for 309 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: better pay and working conditions and recognition of their labor 310 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: unions and labor councils. Others were certainly a lot more 311 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: radical and thought that capitalism itself needed to be replaced 312 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,879 Speaker 1: with some other, more equitable system, and some of the 313 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: language that was used among the strikers did praise the 314 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,359 Speaker 1: Russian Revolution and favored a more socialist or communist economic system. 315 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: But there is no indication at all that this strike 316 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: was part of a huge conspiracy to violently overthrow the 317 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: Canadian government. Even so, the government and the Citizens Committee 318 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: heavily pushed the idea that this whole thing was the 319 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: result of Soviet and Communist influences. They insisted that aliens 320 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: were to blame and characterized Winnipeg's growing Slavic and Jewish 321 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 1: immigrant community as having taken over Winnipeg's labor. They maintained 322 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: this position in spite of the fact that almost all 323 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: of the prominent organizers of the strike itself were people 324 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: who had immigrated to Canada from Britain, not from somewhere 325 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: else in Europe. In fact, there were no new immigrants 326 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: from Eastern or Central Europe on the strike committee at all. 327 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: The Government and the Citizens Committee also maintained this position 328 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: in spite of the fact that As many as eighty 329 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,239 Speaker 1: five percent of Winnipeg's returning veterans were in support of 330 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: the strike, and veterans became increasingly visible among the strikers 331 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: As time went on. This ultimately became violent, and we're 332 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: going to talk about that. After we first paused for 333 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: a little sponsor break, the Winnipeg General Strike managed to 334 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: unite workers all through Winnipeg, largely cutting across gender, ethnicity, 335 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: and economic status. Its size and its scope were unprecedented 336 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: in Canadian history. But at the same time, the government 337 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: of Manitoba didn't really want to get involved in the 338 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: early days of the strike. It left it largely up 339 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: to the Strike Committee and the Citizens Committee of thousands 340 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,360 Speaker 1: and the city government to try to work it out 341 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: among themselves. As we noted earlier, the strike began on 342 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: May fifteen. The Winnipeg Tribune joined the strike, returning to 343 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: work on May on, the postal workers were ordered to 344 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: return to their posts but refused. On May nine, about 345 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: two thousand veterans marched to the capitol to demand that 346 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: employers be required to recognize collective bargaining rights. Two days later, 347 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: ten thousand people made the same march to hear Premier 348 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: Tobias Norris's response, but he told them that was not 349 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 1: within his control. On June fourth, a different group of veterans, 350 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: ones who opposed the strike, marched to the capitol to 351 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: offer their assistance to restore order. On June five, there 352 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,399 Speaker 1: were two different veterans parades, one opposing the strike and 353 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: one supporting it, and that same day the province banned parades. 354 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: There are a lot of parades. It was a lot. Yeah, 355 00:20:57,880 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: it's a lot of march. I mean, the same things 356 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 1: that you see and other strikes were all happening here. 357 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: There was a lot of marching, a lot of demonstrating, 358 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: all of that going on through all of this, and 359 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: although the government of Manitoba was reluctant to get involved, 360 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: the federal government was concerned that the strike might spread 361 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: to other cities. So in early June, Gideon Robertson, who 362 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,919 Speaker 1: was Minister of Labor, and Arthur Meighen, who was Minister 363 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: of the Interior and acting Minister of Justice, came to 364 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:27,520 Speaker 1: Winnipeg to assess this situation. But they only met with 365 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: the Citizens Committee of one thousand. They did not meet 366 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: with the Strike Committee or any of the strikers. Through 367 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: all of this there were lectures, demonstrations, educational events in 368 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: a coordinated outreach program largely staffed by women to distribute 369 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: food and supplies to the striking workers. As we noted earlier, 370 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: most of the leaders of the strike were immigrants to 371 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: Canada from Britain, and on June six, Canada changed the 372 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: terms of the Immigration Act to allow British born immigrants 373 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: to Canada and naturalized Canadian citizens to be deported if 374 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: they were charged with sedition. Parliament also expanded the definition 375 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: of sedition in the Criminal Code to also make the 376 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: definition more abroad, as well as include guilt by association. 377 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: On June nine, Winnipeg's police force was ordered to return 378 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: to work, denounced the strike, and signed loyalty oaths. They refused, 379 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,879 Speaker 1: and the city fired them all, replacing them with a 380 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: force of eighteen hundred special constables known as Specials, most 381 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: of whom were affiliated with the Citizens Committee of a thousand. 382 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: They were armed with clubs and received a salary that 383 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: was higher than the police officers they were replacing. A 384 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: day later, a riot broke out after Specials on horseback 385 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: armed with clubs, charged into a demonstration. On June twelve, 386 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: a mass gathering in Victoria Park was nicknamed Ladies Day 387 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: for its focus on working women. By that point, workers 388 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: and other parts of Canada were starting to strike in 389 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: support of the workers in Winnipeg as well. On June fourteenth, 390 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: the Vancouver Son scheduled an editorial titled No Revolution in 391 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: Vancouver that prompted that papers workers to walk off the 392 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: job for four days. Canada's railroad unions hadn't participated in 393 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: the strike, and in early June they had offered to 394 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: act as mediators. Railroad workers union structure was very similar 395 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,880 Speaker 1: to what the building workers had and what the metal 396 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: workers wanted. Individual unions rolled up into the Federated trades, 397 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: and then the federated trades rolled up to an organization 398 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: called Division four. Division four appointed the Negotiating Committee, which 399 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 1: negotiated for all the member unions. On June sixteenth, after 400 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: ongoing negotiations through the railroad unions, the Big three metal 401 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: companies agreed to negotiate with the separate metal working unions, 402 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: but they made no mention of the Metal Trades Council. 403 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: They made this agreement under huge pressure from getting In Robertson, 404 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: the Minister of Labor, who was worried that if this 405 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,719 Speaker 1: strike went a lot longer, the railroad workers who had 406 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 1: been acting as mediators might ultimately join it as well. 407 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: Apart from the huge impact this would have by shutting 408 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: down the railroad, if the railroad workers joined the strike, 409 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,199 Speaker 1: that was probably going to cause the strike to just 410 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: spread through the entire country, rather than having a few 411 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: isolated communities that were supporting the strike with their own strike. 412 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: The leaders of the railroad unions who had acted as 413 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: negotiators released a statement that this was the same type 414 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: of collective bargaining that the railroad workers enjoyed, but it 415 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,639 Speaker 1: really wasn't. The reason for this about face is not 416 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,199 Speaker 1: entirely clear. That the railroad unions were also under a 417 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: lot of pressure from the Minister of Labor to get 418 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: things resolved, and they feared they might lose their own 419 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 1: unions recognition if they didn't bring things to a close. 420 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: The General Strike Committee was really not satisfied with this outcome, 421 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: especially because they had not even seen the last round 422 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: of proposals during the negotiations before this announcement came about 423 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: an agreement being reached. There was also just a lack 424 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: of clarity about exactly how to define collective bargaining. That 425 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: was yet another layer of complexity in this whole situation. 426 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: The Big Three was insisting that workers had collective bargaining 427 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,199 Speaker 1: powers because they had agreed to recognize the individual unions, 428 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: but the workers, or at least the more elite among 429 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: the workers, insisted that they did not have collective bargaining 430 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: because the Big Three would not recognize the Metal Trades Council. 431 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: The strike committee refused to call off the strike, so 432 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: in June seventeenth, the Northwest Mounted Police, aided by specials, 433 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: rated the homes of several strike leaders and arrested ten 434 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: of the most prominent, as well as two members of 435 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: the One Big Union, which by this point existed. Groups 436 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: of Eastern European immigrants were arrested as well, and after 437 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: the strike was over, Canada deported waves of immigrants who 438 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: were suspected of Bolshevism or Communism. The arrested strike committee 439 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: members were taken to Stony Mountain Penitentiary, and they included 440 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: union and labor leaders John Queen A. Heaps, Robert Lloyd Russell, 441 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: and George arms Wrong. Armstrong's wife, Helen, was the head 442 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: of the Women's Labor League and was one of the 443 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: strike's most visible women. She refused to let the authorities 444 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: take her husband until she had confirmation that they actually 445 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,879 Speaker 1: had a warrant. William Ivan's of the Western Labor News 446 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: was also arrested, as was Roger E Bray, who was 447 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: a former private in the Canadian Army who had been 448 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: trying to rally support for the strike among military veterans. Initially, 449 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 1: the plan was to immediately deport the British born strike leadership, 450 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 1: but it became clear that even people who were opposed 451 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,919 Speaker 1: to the strike thought this was extreme, so authorities charged 452 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: them with seditious conspiracy and planned to bring them to trial. 453 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,880 Speaker 1: Four days after these arrests, on June one, striking workers 454 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: held a silent parade. That day, the city's street cars 455 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,199 Speaker 1: had started running again, and the demonstrators stopped one of 456 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 1: the street cars and tipped it over. This prompted the 457 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: Northwest Mounted Police and the Specials to charge into the strikers, 458 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: killing two people and injuring at least thirty. Nearly a 459 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: hundred people were arrested. This incident was nicknamed Bloody Saturday, 460 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,320 Speaker 1: and afterward federal troops occupied the city of Winnipeg. At 461 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: this point, the strike's most vocal and radical leadership had 462 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: been arrested, leaving more moderate people in charge, and people 463 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: began to fear that there would be more violence and 464 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 1: more deaths if the strike continued. So on June, the 465 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: strike ended and the workers who had not been fired 466 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: for striking returned to their jobs. In the end, this 467 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,360 Speaker 1: strike achieved almost none of its goals. The metal workers 468 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: hours were reduced by five per week, which was less 469 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:38,639 Speaker 1: than the reduction they had asked for, but that was 470 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 1: really it. Civic employees were also required to sign documents 471 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: attesting that they would not strike again in the future 472 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: before they were allowed to return to their jobs. Afterward, 473 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: there was a hugely bitter divide between labor and capital. 474 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: The Citizens Committee of one thousand continued to try to 475 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: undermine labor organization long after the strike was over. The 476 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: strike and the committee's continued work had an overall chilling 477 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:07,679 Speaker 1: effect on labor activism immediately afterward. In July of nineteen nineteen, 478 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: a commission was convened to investigate what had happened during 479 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: the strike. Justice R. A. Robeson led the inquiry and 480 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,719 Speaker 1: rejected the idea that it was a revolution meant to 481 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 1: overthrow the government. His reports supported the idea that this 482 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: was a dispute over the issue of collective bargaining and 483 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,360 Speaker 1: that the strike was not seditious in its character. In 484 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: spite of that, several of the strikes leaders were tried 485 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: for seditious conspiracy in November of nineteen nineteen and in 486 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: the early months of nineteen twenty, in prosecutions that were 487 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: funded by the Department of Justice under the War Appropriation Act. 488 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: Robert Boyd Russell was convicted in December nineteen nineteen. On 489 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: March seven, ninety six, other leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy. 490 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: Roger Ebray was also convicted of being a common nuisance. 491 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: That immediate chilling effect on Canada's labor movement started to 492 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: lift as these trials were happening. Labor leaders were elected 493 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: in both municipal and provincial elections in nineteen nineteen and 494 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty. Some of those leaders were still incarcerated for 495 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: the role in the strike that they had played when 496 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 1: they were elected. The Conservative Party was defeated in the 497 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: ninety one federal election, and the newly elected government promised 498 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: labor reforms. Provinces also started enacting collective bargaining legislation in 499 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, with the federal government enacting a collective 500 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: Bargaining statute in nineteen forty eight. After being released, many 501 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: of the strikes leaders went on to be active in 502 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: the labor movement and in the government. John Queen and 503 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: William Ivans both served in the Manitoba Legislature, and John 504 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: Queen served as the Mayor of Winnipeg for seven non 505 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: consecutive terms. Abraham Heaps was elected as a member of parliament. J. S. 506 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: Woodsworth had been charged in connection to the strike, but 507 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: those charges were later dropped. He became a member of 508 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: parliament as well. He also helped found the Cooperative Coman 509 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: Wealth Federation, which later became the New Democratic Party. Since 510 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: this here's the hundredth anniversary of the strike happening, there's 511 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: been a lot going on related to it in the 512 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: last few years. A monument to the strike was unveiled 513 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: at Lily Street at Market Avenue. In that monument is 514 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: made of metal to honor the striking metal workers. A 515 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: Bloody Saturday monument was scheduled to be unveiled on June nineteen, 516 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: that is after we are recording this podcast. But before 517 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: the podcast is coming out, there's also been a lot 518 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: of hundredth anniversary stuff happening in Winnipeg, including a huge 519 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: labor conference to sort of commemorated and function as a 520 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: labor conference. Do you have a listener mail? I do 521 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: have listener mail. I'm not sure the name of the 522 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: listener who has sent this. They didn't sign the email, 523 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: but it says I was wondering if you could provide 524 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: more context regarding the Quakers and others that would not 525 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: have the bell rung for them that were referenced. That 526 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: was an the Samuel Peeps episode, mainly why would Quakers 527 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 1: not want the bell rung and why even we're we're 528 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: ringing the bell in the first place. I listened on 529 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: the regular and appreciate the stimulating thoughts you conjure up 530 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: the rest of the day after listening to this pod. 531 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: So thank you for this email. So that was in 532 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: the Samuel Peeps episode and Samuel Peep's diary about how 533 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: many people had died of the plague. He made a 534 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: comment about how the number might actually be a lot 535 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: higher because of Quakers and others who would not have 536 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: the bell rung for them. So there were bells being 537 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 1: rung for lots of different reasons at this point in 538 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: London and then specifically during the plague for multiple reasons. 539 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: UM bells would be rung at churches when deaths were reported, 540 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,479 Speaker 1: and bells would also be rung at burials. Part of 541 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: this was required by law. The idea was that if 542 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: there were these bells ringing every time somebody died, then 543 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,800 Speaker 1: maybe people would remember to take precautions about the plague. UM. 544 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: But all of this bell ringing was happening when people 545 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: had a church that they were part of, and we're 546 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 1: being buried in the churchyard, UM. And Quakers and other 547 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: people who were part of like non conforming denominations were 548 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: generally being buried in their own graveyard that wasn't part 549 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: of a church and did not have that church bell 550 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: connected to it. So UM, I think that's what he's 551 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: referring to in terms of the bell not being wrung 552 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,200 Speaker 1: usually UM when Quakers and others were buried, that just 553 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 1: wasn't part of the the funeral or the death notification. 554 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: So that has led to some um lack of clarity 555 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: in terms of the death records from the plague because 556 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 1: a lot of the record keeping was being kept through 557 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: formal church channels, so if you were part of a 558 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: nonconforming religion that did not have those church channels, your 559 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: death might not ever be formally recorded. So thank you 560 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: for that question. 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