Actions and Responses
There were two responses to the perceived oppression and
ignorance that workers faced at the hands of their employers and the
government. The first was to campaign for the legalization of unions, unionize
and collectively bargain in order to further their shared
interests. This approach to the alleged issue resulted in events such as
the Nine-Hour Movement of 1872 in Toronto and the Winnipeg General Strike of
1919 in Winnipeg. As labourers realized that it was not enough to organize
strikes and walkouts in the hope of influencing the upper-class politicians, a
second movement emerged involving electing working-class parliamentarians,
sympathetic to working-class interests, into office. This approach to the
alleged issue resulted in events such the election of J. S. Woodsworth and the
creation of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).
Regina Manifesto
The Regina Manifesto is a document created by the Co-operative
Commonwealth Federation at its first convention in 1933 stating the program of
the aforesaid organization. The document suggests major political change and a
complete restructuration of government. It presents capitalism as a fundamentally
flawed doctrine which is incompatible with modern society and stresses the need
for its immediate replacement. The alternative the Regina Manifesto introduces
is "a distinctive type of socialism", a Canadian adaptation of
socialist ideals present throughout the world. This Canadian socialist model
requires "the establishment of a planned, socialized socioeconomic
order" involving government ownership of all financial machinery and
industry as well as health care, careful regulation of external trade, the
creation of consumers and producers institutions as well as trade unions and
increased income, corporate and inheritance taxes.
Winnipeg General Strike, Bloody Saturday
Strikers protesting the arrest of their leaders and an impasse in negotiations attack a streetcar in Winnipeg on Saturday, June the twenty-first, Nineteen-nineteen. They turn it on its side, break its windows and light it on fire.
The Winnipeg General Strike began at 11 a.m. on May the fifteenth. Nineteen-nineteen as 30, 000 workers protesting against the high cost of living, high rate of inflation, wage freezes and dismal working conditions left their jobs. On June the seventeenth, the government arrested ten leaders of the Strike Committee and two propagandists from the One Big Union. Violence broke out on June the twenty-first as strikers attacked a streetcar and the police responded by shooting into the crowd. In the chaos that ensued many protesters were severely beaten by special police armed with baseball bats and wagon spokes. The Winnipeg General Strike was ended on Thursday, June the twenty-sixth by strike leaders who feared more bloodshed.
The Winnipeg General Strike began at 11 a.m. on May the fifteenth. Nineteen-nineteen as 30, 000 workers protesting against the high cost of living, high rate of inflation, wage freezes and dismal working conditions left their jobs. On June the seventeenth, the government arrested ten leaders of the Strike Committee and two propagandists from the One Big Union. Violence broke out on June the twenty-first as strikers attacked a streetcar and the police responded by shooting into the crowd. In the chaos that ensued many protesters were severely beaten by special police armed with baseball bats and wagon spokes. The Winnipeg General Strike was ended on Thursday, June the twenty-sixth by strike leaders who feared more bloodshed.
The Winnipeg Citizen on the Winnipeg General Strike
This article from the Winnipeg Citizen shows clear bias
against the strikers. It refers to the strikers as "Reds" and
"Bolsheviks", sustaining a common impression at the time; that he
strikers were left radicals with socialist tendencies. It claims that the only
way to solve the labour dispute is to end the strike.