The Winnipeg General Strike

Demanding rights for the working class

By Travis Tomchuk
Published: May 13, 2019

A large crowd gathered on a street Partially obscured.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 25 (N12313)

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Thirty‐five thousand workers off the job. Massive protests in streets and parks. A dismissed police force replaced by baton‐wielding vigilantes. A streetcar nearly tipped over and set aflame. Mounties opening fire on crowds of unarmed men, women and children.

It all happened in Winnipeg, Manitoba 100 years ago in one of the most well‐known and significant labour strikes in Canadian history: the Winnipeg General Strike.

A document of text titled “PROCLAMATION” banning parades and public gatherings, signed “CHARLES F. GRAY, Mayor.” At the bottom it reads “GOD SAVE THE KING.”

Proclamation by Winnipeg Mayor Charles Gray banning parades and public gatherings, June 5, 1919. Despite this warning, silent parades and gatherings continued.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 66 (N12340)
When the Canadian Pacific Railway made its way to Winnipeg in 1881, many years of growth and prosperity followed. With the city acting as a central hub in North America, people flocked to the city to work in agriculture and various burgeoning industries. Many of these new residents came from countries or empires in Central and Eastern Europe, and settled in the city’s North End near where many factories were located. Winnipeg’s business elite increased their fortunes as their companies turned healthy profits and property values soared. They used their vast wealth to build palatial homes in Winnipeg’s Crescentwood neighbourhood, far from the noise and pollution of their factories.

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A group of well-dressed men and women sitting at a picnic table with trees in the background.

Winnipeggers picnicking at a lake around 1914. Winnipeg’s business elite increased their wealth during times of economic growth and prosperity. 

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Foote 1273 (N15808)
Winnipeg mansion, 1924. Wealthy Winnipeggers built lavish homes south of the city’s downtown.

Winnipeg mansion, 1924. Wealthy Winnipeggers built lavish homes south of the city’s downtown.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg – Homes – Nanton, Augustus M. 18 (N15399)

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Winnipeg enters the 20th century

By 1912, the city’s economy was in a downturn. The First World War exacerbated problems as wages could not keep pace with high inflation, leading to a rise in unemployment. In 1918, the worldwide influenza epidemic known as the Spanish Flu broke out in Winnipeg , and those who lived in the North End were hit the hardest. Poor sanitation, overcrowded living conditions, and a lack of income for food and medical care resulted in much suffering.
A large family sitting in cramped living space.

A family at home in Winnipeg, around 1915. In stark contrast to the mansions of Winnipeg’s business elites, working class Winnipeggers often lived in crowded housing.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Foote 1491 (N2438)

Veterans returning from the First World War came home to find that their families were in worse economic and social conditions than before they had enlisted.

Skilled building and metal workers, who had spent many years specializing in their respective trades, were in the midst of negotiating new contracts for wages and working conditions with their employers. The workers wanted their employers to negotiate with a trade council representing workers across their industry. But employers thought it was advantageous to continue negotiating separately with the unions for smaller sub‐sections within each industry. When employers refused to negotiate collectively with the trade councils, the Winnipeg General Strike began.

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A group of men in working clothes sitting and standing in a factory.

Members of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen at the Canadian National Railway Transcona Shops, around 1915. Skilled workers like these had organized into unions to better negotiate with their employers to improve working conditions.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Foote 992 (N2592)
A large group of women sitting and sewing. Others are standing behind them in a room crowded with textiles.

Women factory workers, around 1920. Unlike skilled workers, women who worked in factories like this garment production facility labored under sweatshop conditions that included long hours, low pay, and poor lighting and ventilation.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Jewish Historical Society 3281
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Strike!

At 11 a.m. on May 15, 1919, Winnipeg workers from the city’s building and metal trades put down their tools and walked off the job. They were joined by unionized workers from other occupations. But incredibly, thousands of non‐unionized workers also left their jobs to join the general strike. Roughly 35,000 workers were on strike to protest their low pay and poor working conditions as well as their employers’ refusal to negotiate any of these issues. These workers were supported by thousands of pro‐strike war veterans. A group of striking workers formed the Strike Committee to oversee the strike and ensure that the basic needs of citizens and the city were met. Winnipeg was now under worker control.

The whole working class feels that in the past it has suffered and conditions have been against it.

Labour MLA Fred Dixon, May 23, 1919

A man on a raised platform addresses a large crowd.

War veteran Roger E. Bray addressing a crowd of strikers at Victoria Park, June 13, 1919. Mass meetings were an important way to keep strikers informed and maintain morale.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Foote 1677 (N2743)

Winnipeg’s business elite were not happy with this dramatic turn of events. They quickly formed the Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand to fight the strike. They did this by lobbying all three levels of government – civic, provincial, and federal – to crush the strike by any means necessary. They also published their own newspaper that painted the general strike as a Bolshevik revolution1led by foreign agitators who needed to be deported. Their message was heard far and wide, with The New York Times even proclaiming, "BOLSHEVISM IN WINNIPEG." Although the strike was portrayed as a plot to overthrow the government, this was not the case.

As the Committee of One Thousand tried to paint strikers as dangerous radicals intent on assuming power, workers in cities across Canada showed their solidarity with Winnipeg workers by holding sympathy strikes.

Many striking workers were given ultimatums by their employers: disavow the strike and return to work or lose your job. Yet, at a mass meeting at Victoria Park, strikers rejected these threats. The city’s police also wanted to join the strike though they stayed on duty at the behest of the Strike Committee. A few weeks after the strike began, however, Mayor Charles Gray fired the police because they were sympathetic to the strikers. The Committee of One Thousand began recruiting “Special Police” to replace the dismissed police officers. The Special Police tended to be returned war veterans who were against the strike. They wore armbands and badges as identification and were armed with clubs. Their appearance on the streets of Winnipeg created a new tension.

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A large group of men in suits and hats brandishing clubs marching down the street.

“Special Police” on the march in downtown Winnipeg, June 10, 1919. The appearance of the Special Police made violence between them and the strikers inevitable.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 61 (N12335)
A group of men on horseback ride down a city street as a crowd looks on from the sidewalk.

“Special Police” ride into a crowd on horseback, June 10, 1919. The Special Police swung batons at the crowd to clear the streets of strikers. The crowd fought back, and a riot ensued.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 20 (N12310)
A group of men crowd around a man at a desk.

“Special Police” being sworn in, June 5, 1919. The Committee of One Thousand recruited a vigilante police force after Winnipeg Mayor Charles Gray fired the city’s existing police officers for supporting the strikers.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 16 (N12307)
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The first clash between strikers and the Special Police occurred on June 10 at Main Street and Portage Avenue. Strikers pelted the Special Police with rocks while the Special Police swung their clubs indiscriminately. Many were hurt on both sides, but after Mayor Charles Gray called off the Special Police, calm returned to the area.

I wish to avoid the use of sterner methods if possible, but will use whatever methods are necessary to enforce law and order.

Mayor Charles Gray, June 11, 1919

A week later, members of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) raided the homes of the Strike Committee leaders and placed them under arrest. Recent changes to the federal Immigration Act meant that these men were under threat of deportation for treason if found guilty.

A group of men standing and sitting.

Arrested strike leaders at the Vaughan Street Jail in Winnipeg, 1920. Back row from left to right: Roger E. Bray, George Armstrong, Alderman John Queen, R.B. Russell, R.J. Johns and Bill Pritchard. Front row from left to right: Reverend William Ivens and Alderman A.A. Heaps.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg Strike 35 (N12322)

“Bloody Saturday”

Everything came to a head when pro‐strike war veterans held a silent march on Saturday, June 21 to protest the arrest of strike leaders. Demonstrations of this kind had been banned by Mayor Charles Gray earlier that month but the veterans would not be deterred.

When a streetcar driven by a member of the Committee of One Thousand made its way south on Main Street towards City Hall, the strikers saw this act as a direct provocation. They surrounded the streetcar and tried unsuccessfully to tip it over. Undeterred, they set the streetcar on fire.

A large crowd of people trying to tip over a streetcar.

Crowd tipping streetcar on “Bloody Saturday,” June 21, 1919. On this day, strikers learned how far the city’s business elite and government were willing to go to end the strike.

Photo: Archives of Manitoba, Foote 1696 (N2762)

The RNWMP arrived on the scene to restore order. As they passed by City Hall, strikers hit them with rocks and bottles. Mayor Gray read the Riot Act2 and told the crowds to leave the area within 30 minutes. By then, the RNWMP had turned with clubs and revolvers drawn, and began driving the crowds of strikers and bystanders off the street. Shots were fired into the crowd and one man was killed. Strikers and bystanders began fleeing down side streets and through alleys only to run into Special Police lying in wait with batons at the ready. The local militia was called and they patrolled Winnipeg’s city centre alongside the RNWMP and Special Police. This day became known as "Bloody Saturday."

Hoping to avoid more violence, the Strike Committee met with Manitoba Premier T.C. Norris. The committee stated it would end the strike if the premier agreed to have a Royal Commission examine the root causes of the strike. With both parties successfully negotiating a deal, the strike was officially called off on June 26, 1919.

Legacy

Winnipeg workers walked off the job to protest low wages, long working hours and other poor working conditions, as well as their employers’ unwillingness to negotiate. In response, they were met with clubs and bullets, a vigilante police force, the RNWMP and militia. Many strikers lost their jobs. But even though the demands that led to the Winnipeg General Strike did not materialize for striking workers, they did not view the strike as a complete failure. Instead, they looked for other ways to improve the working and social conditions of Winnipeg’s working class.

A man sitting in a chair.
Mayor John Queen, 1935. Queen was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1920 while serving a prison sentence for his role in the strike. He would later serve as Winnipeg’s mayor in the 1930s and 1940s. Photo: Archives of Manitoba, 20731

The creation of new political parties was one way to further workers’ rights. The Independent Labour Party and, later, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation – a precursor to the New Democratic Party – resulted in former strikers and strike leaders being elected to City Hall, the Manitoba Legislature, and even the House of Commons.

The formation of new unions and collective bargaining was another result of the strike. Politicians and labour activists continued to advocate for protections and better wages for workers, and had their voices heard. Since the general strike, workers have successfully fought for many important human rights initiatives including universal healthcare, minimum wage legislation, employment insurance and anti‐discrimination in the workplace. And progress continues to be made, as more and more Canadians expand the discussion on labour rights to include groups and topics that were once overlooked, like disability rights or environmental rights. The hard‐fought gains workers made over the last 100 years must still be protected. A central goal of labour rights activities today is to focus on the need to value people and to ensure fair wages and safe working environments for all. The guarantees workers have today will only remain if people continue to speak out against injustice. And so, the struggle continues.

Further Readings

  • Bercuson, David J. Confrontation at Winnipeg: Labour, Industrial Relations, and the General Strike. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1990.
  • Epp‐Koop, Stefan. We’re Going to Run this City: Winnipeg’s Political Left after the General Strike. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2015.
  • Dupuis, Michael. Winnipeg’s General Strike: Reports from the Front Line. Charleston: The History Press, 2014.
  • Kramer, Reinhold, and Tom Mitchell. When the State Trembled: How A.J. Andrews and the Citizens’ Committee Broke the Winnipeg General Strike. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010.

References

  • 1The Bolshevik Party led by Vladimir Lenin overthrew Russia’s provisional government in October 1917. The Bolsheviks were a left‐wing revolutionary group that later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). The CPSU ruled Russia until 1991.
  • 2The Riot Act gave Mayor Gray, as an elected official, the authority to order the crowds of strikers to disperse or face the legal consequences of their actions.

Suggested citation

Suggested citation : Travis Tomchuk. “The Winnipeg General Strike.” Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Published May 13, 2019. https://humanrights.ca/story/winnipeg-general-strike

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