Russian 1917 Revolution

- 1917: a group of communists in Russia (called the Bolsheviks) overthrow the government in a
violent revolution
- Known as the February Revolution as it took place on February 23 of the Julian calender
- March 8 of the Gregorian calender
- By March 15 Czar Nicholas II abdicated

The Bolsheviks

- Believed that everyone in a community (including workers) should own and control the
production and distribution of goods (instead of just the factory owners)

The Red Scare

- Canadians feared the spread of communism and did not want the Bolsheviks to win in Russia
- When Canadian workers joined to form trade unions many people thought it might be the
beginning of a communist revolution
- Officials looked for communist books/articles at the borders, and if someone had any of these
materials they were sent to prison

The Labour Wars

1918-1919 Veterans Return

- Few jobs, few benefits

- Not given compensation for war
- No pensions, medical care
- Bosses have profited from the war
- The veterans from the Royal Canadian Legion (1925) to fight for veterans rights

1918-1919 Workers

- Price of goods soar

- Workers had taken lower wages to support the war, but after the war, the wages stay low
- Long hours, terrible working conditions
- Unions are formed to fight for workers rights

Philosophy

- Unions have left-wing ideologies

- Due to what happened in Russia, employers feared a new ‘Bolshevik Invasion’ of North America
- Trade unions were forming in Canada
- but labour laws in Canada did not say that employers had to bargain with unions
Strikes

- They organized strikes

- “Walking off their job”
- Workers believed that by standing, together they could force employers to pay higher wages and
establish shorter working hours

Winnipeg 1919

- Winnipeg was a hotbed of radical politics and unionism

- Massive support for One Big Union
- Metal and Building industries
- Employers refuse to negotiate with unions
- Take a vote on idea of general strike
- 11,000 YES/600 NO

What Happened?

- 30,000 workers walked off the job

- Strike spread from industry to industry and quickly became a general strike
- Sympathy strikes around the country (Vancouver)
- Stores, factories closed; no public transportation, garbage collection, postal service, firefighters,
etc.
- Central Strike Committee coordinated the strike
- Many feared that this was the beginning of a communist revolution

The Winnipeg General Strike, June 1919

Supported By:
● trades/building
● railway/factory workers
● police
● firefighters
● postal workers
● cooks/waiters
● tailors
● 30,000 walk out

Opposed By:
● citizens committee
● business leaders
● politicians
● industrialists
● the committee did not consider the demands and saw the strike as a revolutionary plot
Response

- Politicians were afraid the strike would spark conflict in other cities
- Two cabinet ministers met with the Citizens’ Committee
- Senator Gideon Robertson, minister of labour
- Arthur Meighen, minister of the interior and acting minister of justice
- They refused to meet with Central Strike Committee

Federal Government Response

- Threatened to fire federal workers

- Immigration Act Amended
- Deported all foreign workers and union leaders - anyone who was suspected of “trying to cause a
revolution” could be arrested and deported with no hearing or trial
- Sent troops with machine guns to Winnipeg
- NWMP raided homes of union leaders and arrested 10 strike leaders

Bloody Saturday

- On June 21 strikers help a silent parade in support of those arrested

- June 21st, 1919: violence erupted; a crowd gathered to watch a parade protesting against the
arrest of strike leaders
- Crowed overturned a streetcar and set it on fire
- The Royal Northwest Mounted Police charged the protestors and beat them with clubs and fired
bullets
- 30 people injured, two dead
- Day ended with federal troops occupying the city

Outcomes of the Strike

Strike lasted 6 weeks until June 25

- RESULT: THE STRIKERS LOST! Unions suffered a setback

- Many workers only rehired after promising to not join a union
- Left a legacy of bitterness and controversy on organizing labour groups
- It was another 30 years until the government recognized trade unions

Positive Outcomes

- United workers around common goal

- Drew attention to the social and economic problems that many people faced
- Labour leaders became more interested in politics, and pro-worker political parties became more
popular
- Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) became the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961