The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history, and became the platform for future labour reforms.
Although many Canadian companies had enjoyed enormous profits on World War I contracts, wages and working conditions were dismal and labour regulations were mostly non-existent.
In March 1919 labour delegates from across Western Canada convened in Calgary to form a branch of the "One Big Union", with the intention of earning rights for Canadian workers through a series of strikes. A drastic amount of men and women- some unionised and some not were all of different trades of skill and from different ethnic backgrounds shared class solidarity of inequality in Canada and wanted to achieve what was essential for themselves.
Read more about Winnipeg General Strike: End of The War, Aftermath, Role of Women, Historiography, Commemorations in Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words general and/or strike:
“The reputation of generosity is to be purchased pretty cheap; it does not depend so much upon a mans general expense, as it does upon his giving handsomely where it is proper to give at all. A man, for instance, who should give a servant four shillings, would pass for covetous, while he who gave him a crown, would be reckoned generous; so that the difference of those two opposite characters, turns upon one shilling.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (16941773)
“In love, it is the weak who strike and the strong who caress.”
—José Bergamín (18951983)