The Winnipeg General Strike
What was happening in the year 1919? Well, the First World War had finished, and the soldiers were returning home. The Depression would not come for approximately ten more years. So why weren’t people happy and life brimming with opportunity? What was happening that would lead to such labour and social strife? Relations between Canadian workers and employers were becoming explosive. The Canadian working class was being treated without any social justice. So they had one choice, to stand up and make their voices be heard because if they did not fight, resist, organize and unify to get the power to control their own lives then they would have had to wear the exaggerated look of captivity. Was what happened to Winnipeg an attempt of a revolution? The Canadian working class wanted a revolution, which they deserved, and had the right to strike against the government. For example, the government promised returning soldiers jobs and more money but they did not receive what they were promised and people were being paid extremely low wages compared to what they deserved. Also, minorities were being treated unfairly. They were paid even lower wages then the average wage. Lastly, working conditions were not at all suitable. Workers were risking their lives to make enough money to pay for food.
The Canadian working class deserved high wages then what they were receiving, this is one reason why the strikers had the right to strike against the government. For example, in Winnipeg, workers walked off the job for six weeks and in the process, they tied up railroads, the postal service, and the police force. The city's unions heeded the central's call, and "more than 20,000 men, who with their families made up nearly half the population, stopped work for three days." However, the strike was not only taking place in Winnipeg. All across Canada the working class was having issues with money. No where in Canada