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Article: The legacy of 1919. (historic strike in Winnipeg, Canada)
- Article from:
- Canadian Dimension
- Article date:
- May 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Canadian Dimension Publication, Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For six weeks in 1919 over half of the working people in Winnipeg went on strike. They were striking in support of the metal trade and building trades workers, whose employers were refusing to negotiate with them. Half the people on strike were not even members of a union.
The Winnipeg establishment thought this was a revolution in the making. They convinced the Federal government of this, and the strike was crushed by the police and the militia. One died when the Mounted Police fired into a demonstration following the arrest of the strike leadership. Some strikers were imprisoned, others were deported, and thousands more lost their jobs.
Why commemorate ...