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Winnipeg General Strike Facts & Worksheets

The year 1919 marked the largest strike in the history of Canada, eventually known as the Winnipeg General Strike.

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The year 1919 marked the largest strike in the history of Canada, eventually known as the Winnipeg General Strike. It was driven by low wages, increasing prices for basic goods, and unemployment was getting worse. Between May 15 and June 25, 1919, approximately 30,000 workers left their jobs and marched into the streets of Winnipeg, leading the biggest labor action the country had ever seen. This served as the turning point for future labor reforms, and it ignited campaigns for better job conditions, empowering and uniting the working class in Canada.

See the fact file below for more information on the Winnipeg General Strike or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Winnipeg General Strike worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BACKGROUND

  • Due to the aftermath of the First World War, the year 1919 saw high unemployment rates and inflation in Canada. Soldiers returning from the war couldn’t have their jobs back.
  • As the economic crisis worsened, Canadian laborers suffered while employers prospered. The working-class immigrants living in the country were the most affected. They could not afford housing and food as prices continued to increase.
  • Moreover, laborers in different trades demanded fair wages. They just wanted to earn enough money to bring enough food back home to their families waiting. For these reasons, social tension gradually developed.
  • In other parts of the world, many workers and labor unions were also fighting for better working conditions. Many strikes were held in Russia that led to the victorious Russian Revolution in 1917.
  • At the time, an international workers’ movement called syndicalism also became well-known and continued to attract supporters to bring down capitalism. This served as the inspiration for Canadian union leaders and laborers to hold a meeting in Calgary around March 1919. The said gathering focused on the establishment of the One Big Union.

THE GENERAL STRIKE

  • In Winnipeg, Manitoba, laborers in the building and metal trades demanded better job treatment from their managers. They asserted their rights to fair wages and collective bargaining, a written constitutional contract between an employer and a union embodying the employees.
  • As the workers’ calls remained unheard, the Winnipeg Trade and Labor Council (WTLC) declared a general strike. The Central Strike Committee, whose members were elected from each of the labor unions linked to the WTLC, coordinated the strike.
  • At exactly eleven o’clock in the morning on May 15, 1919, workers abandoned their respective jobs and marched into the streets. This caused privately owned factories, public transportation, shops, and city services to close down.
  • In a matter of hours, around 30,000 workers from both private and public sectors filled the streets of Winnipeg, marking the largest labor strike in Canadian history. The strikers included garment workers, firemen, postal workers, telephone and telegraph operators, utility workers, and even police officers.
  • Following this, the Citizens’ Committee, composed of around 1,000 individuals, deliberately organized opposition to the general strike. This group included Winnipeg’s most influential business owners and politicians, as well.
  • Moreover, the said committee did not listen to the demands of the workers, calling the action a revolutionary plot initiated by the Bolsheviks and immigrants from eastern Europe. This was bought by the media and leading newspapers as a distraction to block any attempts to appease the protesters.
  • Due to the growing protest and fear that the strike would encourage further agitations from other cities, the federal government stepped in. Two Cabinet members had a meeting with the Citizens’ Committee in Winnipeg.
  • The said Cabinet officials were Senator Gideon Robertson, Minister of Labour, and Arthur Meighen, Minister of the Interior and acting Minister of Justice. They also refused to talk to the Central Strike Committee, who represented the workers.
  • Consequently, the federal government backed the employers and threatened to fire the workers if they continued to support the strike. The Parliament amended the Immigration Act so that it could deport British-born immigrants. It also broadened the definition of sedition under the Criminal Code.
  • On June 17, 1919, ten union leaders from the Central Strike Committee and two members of the One Big Union were arrested.
  • On June 21, 1919, the protesters held a silent parade to show solidarity and support for the arrested leaders. Shortly after, the Royal North-West Mounted Police and some hired union busters began to attack the strikers, firing bullets into a crowd of thousands of people. They also beat them using clubs.
  • Dubbed as the ‘Bloody Saturday’, the police violence killed two workers and injured countless others. The federal forces immediately occupied the streets. Editors of the daily newspaper Strike Bulletin, Fred Dixon and J.S. Woodsworth, were also arrested.
  • On June 25, 1919, the Central Strike Committee announced the workers’ return to work, which marked the official end of the protest. Several union leaders were charged with planning to overthrow the government. They were sentenced to six months to two years of jail time. The case against Woodsworth was dropped.

SIGNIFICANCE

  • Although the general strike did not succeed in making their demands materialize, it catapulted future labor campaigns and union actions, and it forged solidarities and unities across the members of the working class in Canada.
  • Workers from Winnipeg continued their fight by working with other unions from Britain and mainland Europe. Some of them also helped establish the socialist labor party, which is now known as the New Democratic Party.
  • The general strike likewise encouraged further activism from laborers in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Victoria, and British Columbia.
  • Furthermore, strike leaders were supported by the citizens and eventually elected to government, including Woodsworth, who also helped found the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation.
  • Three decades after the Winnipeg General Strike, Canadian workers’ unions were finally recognized and granted collective bargaining rights.

Winnipeg General Strike Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Winnipeg General Strike across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Winnipeg General Strike worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the year 1919 which marked the largest strike in the history of Canada, eventually known as the Winnipeg General Strike. Between May 15 and June 25, 1919, approximately 30,000 workers left their jobs and marched into the streets of Winnipeg, leading the biggest labor action the country had ever seen. This served as the turning point for future labor reforms, and it ignited campaigns for better job conditions, empowering and uniting the working class in Canada.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Winnipeg General Strike Facts
  • Locating Winnipeg
  • Find the Words
  • Fill in the Blank
  • The ‘Bloody Saturday’
  • Strike Leaders
  • Quote Analysis
  • Primary Source Analysis
  • Significance of the Strike
  • In Popular Culture
  • In a Nutshell

Further Reading

If you’d like to know more about this topic, take a look here.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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