Canada’s construction industry is grappling with labor trouble this spring, with strikes in Ontario and Prince Edward Island and unusually protracted contract negotiations. There is also protection for medical, dental, disability, life and other insurance schemes. Requests for collective bargaining by unions were rejected throughout the country, and especially in Manitoba. Mitchell, Tom / Naylor, James: The Prairies. There were also cases of essentially political strikes. CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images Australian and Canadian Conscription Debates during the First World War, in: Australian Journal of Politics and History 61/2 (2015), p. 195. The first recorded labor strike occurred in ancient Egypt in 1156 BC, when workers stopped working to protest late payment from the pharaoh, Ramesses III. A Nation Transformed, Toronto 1974, p. 242. 503-540. ): The Workers’ Revolt in Canada 1917-1925, Toronto 1998, p. 270. As a result, on the eve of the First World War, Canadian labour – i.e., workers organised into unions to achieve common goals – was mostly organised on a small scale, if at all. Thus, while labour’s power increased during the war, government suppression prevented major changes from being consolidated, and so the gains made during the war years were effectively lost for decades to come. This text The Impact of the First World War, in: Canadian Historical Review 73/3 (1992), pp. It began in earnest when metal trades and building workers walked off the job in early May, demanding wage increases and the right to collective bargaining. [6] Radicalization was thus also limited, but the global war sent tremors throughout Canadian labour. Police officers were laid off for their pro-strike inclinations and special constables hired to replace them. Street, Kori: Patriotic, Not Permanent. The earlier Order-in-Council P.C. Meetings conducted in these languages, other than religious services, were also banned. They had complex demands across many different industries and threatened to hold massive city wide strikes if their demands were not met. Labour Relations refers to the relations between employers and employees. Conscription and the perceived dismissal of their concerns of depopulation by both the provincial and federal government prompted farmers to stand for and win the Ontario provincial election in October 1919. The Labour Program is responsible for protecting the rights and well-being of both workers and employers in federally regulated workplaces. While by the war’s end, almost 37 percent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force had listed their occupations as “industrial”, workers at home started to strike, partly in protest of the war. As the war progressed, conscription became a necessity after the high casualties Canada suffered at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, and Passchendaele. It has been estimated 350,000 wage-earners struck from 1917-1920. This fear turned out to be unfounded, as Douglas McCalla argues, since women made up only a small percentage of the total munitions industry workers.[8]. Some historians claim the labour revolt began in 1916, while others place it in late 1917 with the election of the Union government, the introduction of conscription, and the orders in council that curbed the civil liberties of labour and trade unions. 460-461. • 1912–1914 – Great Coal Strike on Vancouver Island, aka Vancouver Island War - Joseph Mairs martyred - memorial cairn in Ladysmith, BC Guide to the Labour Relations Code Province of British Columbia. Despite this, the TLC was unofficially recognized by the federal government as representing labour in Canada. Both the political elite and labour leaders called for some form of conscription of wealth. 29-12-1876 Grand Trunk Railway workers in eastern Ontario go on strike in support of fired co-workers. 32-33. While farmers were initially praised by the government and elites as contributing to the war effort, as inflation rose from 1916, some in the cities looked for the cause. Before the war, unions were present throughout the country, but exercised only limited power. Mann, Jatinder: To the last man and the last shilling and Ready, aye ready. Canada’s labour movement has a long history of improving workers’ everyday lives. Drache, Daniel: The Formation and Fragmentation of the Canadian Working Class. These radical groups were in the minority, and no substantial protests developed. Labour was divided on its support for this measure. Anti-conscription protests and resistance were part of the larger labour revolt against the war from mid-1917 onward. [36] Though it did not achieve labour leaders’ goals, the Winnipeg General Strike remains in an important symbol of labour rights in Canada. [28] This particular outbreak of protests followed the harassment of men who had received exemptions from conscription. The Canada Labour Code (Part I–Industrial Relations) recognizes that employees can lawfully engage in a strike against employers, and employers can lawfully lock out their employees in an effort to compel or persuade "the other side" to agree to terms and conditions of employment, provided they do so in accordance with the provisions of the Code. In 1917, munitions workers made up less than 20 percent of total women workers. Given its commitment to socialist principles, the OBU also favoured including as many people as possible. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Such measures were mostly able to keep radical behaviour in check during war, but this would not be the case after the armistice. In 1915, however, increased industrial output for the war effort helped to end the depression. Striking at the Ballot Box, in: Heron, Craig (ed. Strikes became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. Some radicalism continued after the founding of the Communist Party of Canada in 1921, but it was limited. Many in its ranks feared it was the first step to conscription. [9] Instead, Sangster contends, women largely replaced men in clerical work, a trend that had begun before the war. We fought for and won many of the rights enjoyed by all workers today – minimum wages, overtime pay, workplace safety standards, maternity and parental leave, vacation pay, and protection from discrimination and harassment. Library and Archives Canada, Orders in Council 19 September 1918 to 28 September 1918 (RG2), 2168E, v. 955, P.C. The issue of farm labour and conscription is not often presented as being a concern in Quebec; however, Jatinder Mann argues that concerns over maintaining farm labour were a factor in French-Canadian opposition to conscription, in addition to not having an emotional connection to the British Empire. Next the 11,000 member labour umbrella group declared it was in favour of a general strike. These organizational weaknesses opened Canadian labour to outside influence, particularly from American-based international unions, which led to a division between craft and industrial unions. That election also saw numerous labour politicians elected to office: Joseph Shaw (1883-1944) and William Irvine (1885-1962) won as Labour candidates in Calgary, J. S. Woodsworth (1874-1942) in Winnipeg. [19] The founding of the OBU contributed to the events that led to the Winnipeg General strike in spring 1919. 2384, September 1918. The later years of the war saw a larger increase in membership: By the end of 1917, the total was approximately 205,000, and in 1918 250,000. [39] Whatever the catalyst for this decline, the war negatively affected labour in Canada. Conscription further exasperated the divide between urban and rural Canadians, which had been growing prior to the outbreak of war. A Short History, Toronto 2012, pp. This decision prompted anger and distrust towards the government among the labour ranks; there was, however, very little they could do to strike at traditional power bases. Canada post is on strike. This strike united the Canadian labour movement around the demand for collective bargaining legislation, which it won in 1944 and which remains central to our industrial relations system. Paul Weinberg. Morton, Desmond: When Your Number’s Up. One example is the death of Albert “Ginger” Goodwin (1887-1918), a labour leader who was killed on 27 July 1918 while evading conscription in the hills of British Columbia. Conscription had brought different sections of labour into Canadian politics, forever changing the political landscape. As the strike dragged on, the federal government intervened and a number of strike leaders were arrested in the early morning of 19 June. Much like the rest of the population, Canadian labour largely supported the war. Borden had first recommended a voluntary information-gathering scheme, where men submitted information about themselves to allow the government to gauge the human resources available for the Canadian war effort. Gregory S. Kealey argues that “the revolt was national in character and that its seeds were not rooted in any unique regional fermentation. Labour reacted to the outbreak of war with enthusiasm, like the rest of Canada. The crucible of war changed Canada in many ways, but labour remained outside the structures of power after the fighting had ended. 1949 – Aggregate union membership in Canada surpasses one million. Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage, caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. This comes after breakdowns in negotiations over the postal worker’s collective agreement that dictates working conditions. Growing discontent with government repression and perceived greed on the part of employers led to one of the most violent and divisive labour strikes in Canadian history. The Canadian Government and the Suppression of the 1918 Quebec Easter Riots, in: Canadian Historical Review 89/4 (2008), pp. This started a “feminization” of clerical work that continued into the post-war years, something that did not occur in industrial occupations. The Trades and Labour Congress (TLC) was the strongest labour group in Canada in the pre-war period, but it was not a national organization. Rioting broke out, resulting in two deaths, numerous injuries, and dozens of arrests. "Timeline of labour issues and events in Canada", Learn how and when to remove this template message, Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital, 2009 City of Toronto inside and outside workers strike, Bill 115 'Putting Students First Act 2012', Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, "Vancouver Island War", Knowledge Network preview/summary video, Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks - NFB - Collection, "Fighting the good fight: Homer Seguin tells his story", "1973 – 1982: CUPE Becomes a Seasoned Political Force", "Merger of Retail Clerks, Meat Cutters Created Union Exceeding 1.2 Million", "Vale reaches deal with workers at Sudbury nickel mine", https://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/transit-strike/, Records of Mayworks labour festival are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timeline_of_labour_issues_and_events_in_Canada&oldid=977718064, Articles with dead external links from July 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles needing additional references from October 2010, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 1900 – Parliament passes the Conciliation Act and establishes the federal, 1912–1914 – Great Coal Strike on Vancouver Island, aka, 1914 – The Workmen's Compensation Act, the first social insurance legislation in Canadian history, was adopted by the, 1919 - Western Labour Conference in Calgary leads to creation of, 1924 - An informal coalition of progressive, 1925 - One coal miner was killed and many injured during a protest as a result of a major strike at the, 1939 - Canada Declares war on Germany (1939), August 1940 – The first compulsory national. A union strike happens when the union and management are unable to negotiate to meet one another’s needs. Many of the strike leaders were sentenced to prison terms as the federal government feared a Bolshevik uprising. As per article 87.2 of the Canada Labour Code, advance notice of strike or lockout to the other party and the Minister of Labour is required to be served at least seventy-two hours in advance. Desmond Morton posits labour weakness as one reason for the suppression: Others believe the federal government used the war as an excuse to begin targeting radical labour leaders and groups. They are affected by a number of factors, including labour organizations, collective bargaining, labour market, government policy, the structure of the economy, labour law and technological change. Ian McKay links conscription opposition to labour by stating that the 1918 Easter anti-conscription riots in Quebec City took place in the working-class suburbs and was therefore part of the political left’s protest efforts. Over the course of the war, union membership expanded to unprecedented levels. Labour Relations Rights (No Right to Bargain Collectively and/or No Right to Strike) 5.3 Securing Essential Services by Imposing Limitations on the Right to Strike (Controlled Strike Model) 5.3.1 Federal Public Service Labour Relations Act 5.3.2 Canada Labour Code 5.4 General Observations on the Controlled or Designated Strike Model The government curtailed civil liberties and used conscription in an effort to limit the influence of radical labour leaders, but had little success. 1998, p. 119. However, some sectors of labour were against war, and called for general strikes to cripple the country and prevent its entry into the conflict. A "Day of Protest" was called by the Canadian Labour Congresson 14 October 1976 to mark the anniversary of the royal assent of the Anti-Inflation law and regulations. Morton, Desmond: Working People. In the early years of the 20th century, many people had moved from rural farms and communities into larger cities seeking better wages. Kealey, Gregory S.: 1919. McKay, Ian: Reasoning Otherwise. Selected Readings, Toronto 1994, p. 25. The need to increase production of armaments such as shells led to growth in the metalworking industry, which needed tens of thousands of new workers to keep up with munitions orders. Between the arrests of the strike leaders and the violence, support was waning, and by 25 June, the strike was called off. The Unionist party, made up of Conservatives and pro-conscription Liberals, represented conscription, while the opposition Liberals were against it. Gregory S. Kealey notes that “this apparent surrender of the labour movement’s purely voluntarist stance led to renewed opposition to the TLC leaders, especially in Quebec and the west, but also in Ontario.”[24] The measure, of course, did lead to conscription: The Military Service Act of 1917 (MSA) was put to a pseudo-referendum in the 1917 federal election. Major Work Stoppages in Canada (Labour Program Canada). McKay, Ian / Morton, Suzanne: The Maritimes. Though the TLC generally supported the war, it took a hardline anti-conscription stance, and most labour groups followed. 1949 - Controversial American labour unionist, 1965 – Wildcat postal strike, leading to the extension of collective bargaining rights to the majority of the public service, 1968 - Air Canada agents in British Columbia begin, 1986 - Six-month-long strike at the Gainers meatpacking plant in Edmonton, 1998 - Teenagers Jennifer Wiebe and Tessa Lowinger successfully unionize a, September 19, 2008 - A fire destroys the historic. It began in earnest when metal trades and building workers walked off the job in early May, demanding wage increases and the right to collective b… Essays in Honour of Robert Craig Brown, Toronto 2005, p. 143. They blamed farmers, who they thought were growing rich off urban suffering. 2384, issued on 25 September 1918, declared several political groups and unions illegal, including the International Workers of the World (IWW), the Russian Social Democratic Party, the Russian Revolutionary Group, the Russian Social Revolutionists, the Russian Workers Union, the Ukrainian Revolutionary Group, the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Social Labour Party, the Group of Social Democrats of Bolsheviki, the Group of Social Democrats of Anarchists, the Workers International Industrial Union, the Chinese Nationalist League, and the Chinese Labour Association. Many Ontario workers benefitted from the increase in war production, and were therefore less radical. Strikes, Lockouts And Picketing. ... Today, nearly 30 years later, the Constitutional right to strike came to Canada carried on the sails of Justice Dickson’s dissent. July 5, 2010 - A tentative resolution of the Vale strike in Sudbury is announced. In May 1917, after returning from France and seeing the personal toll the war was taking on Canadian soldiers, whom he had visited in hospital, Prime Minister Borden reversed his promise not to enact conscription. Labour; Trades and Labour Congress; Conscription; Winnipeg General Strike, Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Canada), World War I veterans demonstrating at City Hall Winnipeg, Revolt against Conscription and Division in Canada. Women were still in subordinate to men in unions and many separate ethnic and racial unions were organized. Worker shortages struck rural farmers first, as higher wages at munitions factories and war service drew more people to the cities. When all else fails, strike! In addition, large numbers of returning Canadian soldiers were involved in the strike, with some on the side of the protestors, others entering the new police force. [35] This day would come to be called “Bloody Saturday”, its iconic image that of a lone burning streetcar from that day. [14], There was a large amount of strikes during the war and in its immediate aftermath. By 1919, the number of strikes rose to 427 with 150,000 workers, and by 1920, the number had reached 457. Attesting to labour’s weakness and in contrast to most other belligerent countries, the federal government under Prime Minister Robert Borden (1854-1937) did not seek the opinion of labour leaders. A Military and Political History, Toronto 1981, p. 57. Finnish-, Ukrainian-, and Russian-language newspapers and publications were banned for their perceived connection to the communist uprisings in each of these countries, and the state expanded its power of censorship, granted in the early stages of the war by the War Measures Act. The slowing down of economic activity, starting in the early 1980s, almost wiped out any strike activity until the mid-1990s; workers wer… Interesting observations about … The foundations of our understanding of 1919 must be built on national and international conjunctures.”[20] Despite the regional bias of the historiography identified by Kealey, there were changes that had a national effect on labour. [16] In southern Ontario, the number of days lost in strikes grew from 25,000 in 1915, to 77,000 in 1916, to over 120,000 in 1918.[17]. Essays in Honour of Robert Craig Brown, Toronto 2005, p. 169. ): Canada and the First World War. Solidarity and Fragmentation, in: Heron, Craig (ed. [26] None of the labour candidates were elected, but the issue of conscription had brought labour into federal politics for good. Borden, Mackenzie King, and Canada’s World War, Toronto 2012, p. 117. [33] Sympathy strikes broke out in numerous Canadian cities, but none reached the fervour of Winnipeg. ): The Workers’ Revolt in Canada 1917-1925, Toronto 1998, p. 215. ): Canadian Labour History: Selected Readings, Toronto 1994, p. 197. [23] Any type of literature espousing the views of these banned publications was subject to government seizure without a warrant. The TLC leadership accepted the scheme shortly after its creation in autumn 1916, assured that conscription would not occur, and recommended compliance to their members. The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was the culmination of years of war, anger, repression, and loss. Cook, Tim: Warlords. [34] The local and provincial governments did little to try to end the strike, but feared that the Bolsheviks had wormed their way into the organizations. [11] Traditional union power bases were very much reinforced by the war. [22] There was an additional ban on “any association, organization, society or corporation, one of those purposes or professed purposes is to bring about any government, political, social, industrial, or economic change within Canada”. Naylor, James: Southern Ontario. Strike, collective refusal by employees to work under the conditions required by employers. St. Croix, Brad: Labour Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Canada) , in: 1914-1918-online. The ongoing economic depression initially hampered any strong, organized opposition to the war or the Borden government. It generally involves quitting of work by a group of workers for the purpose of bringing the pressure on their employer so that their demands get accepted. [4] It focused on skilled trades; hence the name craft unions. [18] The OBU started in Western Canada when its members split from the TLC in March 1919 at conference in Calgary, Alberta. ): A Sisterhood of Suffering and Service. 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