1. Economic Boom during Labour Unrest
Canadian History 11

2. Labour Unrest 1918-1919 a wave of labour unrest swept across Canada.
Workers struggled with employers to determine the direction of postwar society.
What to do with the ex soldiers.

3. Returning Soldiers
Many ex soldiers did not find steady work with decent wages when they returned home from the war. Many became angry.
Ex soldiers expected that their sacrifices would be rewarded with steady jobs.
Many women had taken over the jobs performed by men.
Veterans expected to go back to their own jobs.

4. Union Movement
Union Movement declared that the economy should benefit ordinary workers, not just industrialists.
Who did this union appeal to?
Many political groups agreed with this.
Many people wanted a ‘voice in the management and a share in the profits…’
It is ‘un-Christian to accept profits when labourers do not receive a living wage.’

5. Union Movement
Farmers in Canada under the Canadian Council of Agriculture called for public ownership of essential services such as railways and electrical power. They also wanted old age pensions, and widow’s allowances.

6. An Era of Unions
1920s many unions in Canada wanted to unite under one union.
One Big Union (OBU)
Saw society as a class struggle between workers and business owners. By uniting they could win the struggle.
Encouraged workers to engage in a general cross country strike.

7. Union Outlook
Many people who did no belong to unions saw them as communists.
Unions actually praised the Communist Revolution in Russia.
Their slogan was ‘Workers of the World, Unite’.

8. Wide Spread Strike 1919 a widespread strike across Winnipeg.
Their goal was to win the right to bargain as a group to gain better pay, and to improve working conditions.
Working Conditions = Work week, Conditions in the factory (harsh environment), unsafe.
This is called Collective Bargaining.

9. Images of the Strike

10. Images