The Bloody Saturday monument, located at the intersection of Main Street and Market Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, serves as a moving reminder of a significant turning point in Canadian labour history. This unique public art piece commemorates the events of June 21st, 1919, known as the Winnipeg General Strike, and more specifically, the conflict that occurred on that day, now referred to as "Bloody Saturday." The monument, designed by artists Bernie Miller and Noam Gonick, is shaped like a tilting steel streetcar, just like the historical streetcar present at the site of the confrontation. The sculpture effectively conveys the human experience of the labour struggle through its significant location, form, and material. In this essay, I will …show more content…
With high unemployment, inflation, and expensive housing and food, citizens in Winnipeg are dramatically affected. The strike started as a peaceful protest in response to ongoing labour disputes and demands for rights to collective bargaining, better working conditions, and fair wages. In May 1919, workers staged multiple strikes and quit their jobs. The Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council (WTLC) called a general strike on May 15th, 1919, following the failure of negotiations. The city's private establishments like factories, stores, and transit closed because there were no workers, and even public employees like the police and firefighters joined them. For approximately a month, the strike went on without any notable changes. However, on June 21st, the strike turned violent as the city's authorities confronted the striking workers. On what is now referred to as Bloody Saturday, the police dispersed a crowd protesting the arrest of strike leaders, leading to numerous injuries, with 27 hospitalized and the unfortunate deaths of two …show more content…
The monument's design clearly connects the past to the present by capturing the intensity and challenges of the time. Because of the tilted streetcar's striking presence, viewers are prompted to consider the long-term effects of the events it honours, which fosters empathy and reflection. Through its meticulous attention to detail, thoughtful design, and strategic location, Bloody Saturday is still and always will be a significant sculpture of Winnipeg's past. I came away from my encounter with the monument with a great deal of respect and admiration for the strikers' bravery and their struggle for workers' rights, as well as knowing the importance of standing up for social justice and labour rights. Overall, the monument serves as a moving reminder of the advancements made in labour rights and the continued significance of acknowledging, understanding, and learning from the past. The Bloody Saturday monument goes beyond being just a sculpture—it stands as a potent emblem of remembrance, reflection, and
How were revolutionary industrial unionists in Winnipeg influenced to strike in 1919? All Canadians have heard of the Winnipeg General Strike, and many have studied its influences. Coming immediately after the First World War, yet coming before the Great Depression hit, many wonder why Winnipeg workers took up arms when they did? In truth, the strikers were primarily industrial unionists who wanted a revolution. The strikers were aiming for a major difference in the government. Now, to the non-Canadian, Canada has always seemed perfectly calm and neutral. Many would go as far as wondering how Canada could ever have any problems. Therefore, hardly anybody knows of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, let alone what caused the strike. Simply put, revolutionary industrial unionists within Canada were influenced to strike by Canada’s involvement in the First World War, the quick and incredible success of Russia’s revolution in 1917, and inflation within the country.
1919 Winnipeg General Strike was Canada's most influential labour action. After World War I many Canadian soldiers returned home to find few opportunities, all while companies had enjoyed enormous profits on war contracts. Wages and working conditions were dismal and labour regulations were mostly non-existent.
The 1919 steel strike was an attempt to organize the United States steel industry after World War One. The strike lasted about five months, and was unsuccessful. It began on September 21, 1919, and collapsed on January 8, 1920. It was started by the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, or the AA. The AA had formed in 1876. It was a union of iron and steel workers which was very committed to creating unionism, but advancements in technology had decreased the amount of skilled workers in the industries.
Tensions between union supporters and management began mounting in the years preceding the strike. In April of 1994, the International Union led a three-week strike against major tracking companies in the freight hauling industry in attempts to stop management from creating $9 per hour part-time positions. This would only foreshadow battles to come between management and union. Later, in 1995, teamsters mounted an unprecedented national union campaign in attempts to defeat the labor-management “cooperation” scheme that UPS management tried to establish in order to weaken the union before contract talks (Witt, Wilson). This strike was distinguished from other strikes of recent years in that it was an offensive strike, not a defensive one. It was a struggle in which the union was prepared, fought over issues which it defined, and one which relied overwhelmingly on the efforts of the members themselves (http://www.igc.org/dbacon/Strikes/07ups.htm).
The organization of IWW was the first of many strikes brought up by Zinn. The IWW’s strike may have been one of the biggest and most fearful strikes of the time period. The strike started in February 1919 in Seattle, WA. The walkout of nearly 100,000 workers brought the city to a substantial halt for five days. The strike was quiet and orderly, citizens handled it quite well. The strikers organized milk
28 Grant, Alex. "Canada: 90th Anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike." In Defence of Marxism. 28 May 2009. Web. 21 May 2011.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
This strike involved the workers of General Motors and they were unhappy with how much they were getting payed in relation to how much profit General Motors was bringing in. They also were concerned with the notion of being fired with no warning and no help after they were layoff with no unemployment insurance. The workers that were still at the plants had no control over about of hours to be worked, or when the lines would speed up. With the workers at high tension they formed the Sit down strike (The 1937 Flint Sit- down Strike). The strike need to be this was for a few reasons, one, all the workers would not leave the building because if they held a normal strike then they would just all be fired and replaced with other people. Another reason was because although there was an early union that started in 1935, the United Automotive Workers (UAW), they are still a new union that did not have respect with he companies to negotiate with them. Also, by locking themselves inside with the machinery, the GM had to react in a peaceful way so that their machines would not be damaged(Rubenslein Ziewacz, 241). Another big step for Unions was on August 28, 1963. This was event was called the March on Washington and took place at our nations capital. Although many people now know the March on Washington to be about civil rights and freedom it was originally about Jobs and the rights of workers. My people gathered to hear Dr. King speak about freedom, but the Union officials were their as well supporting what they were fighting for as well (The 1937 Flint Sit- down
In their first attempt to get noticed, workers formed the National Labor Union in 1866. This union joined together various workers in order to create a group that would fight for what they wanted: higher wages and shorter workdays. As the years went by, the National Labor Union did their best in trying to achieve their goals, all while other groups took the matters into their own hands. In 1877, in what became known as the Great Railroad Strike, railroad workers from across America took part in a spontaneous strike on America’s railroads, an attempt that led to violence and, to their dismay, no changes to working conditions. In response to the strike, The New York Times published an article that stated “But if the strike on the Baltimore and Ohio Road is a foolish one, its history up to the present time shows that those who are engaged in it are not only bold and determined, but that they have the sympathy of a large part of the community in which they live…” (Document B). The editorial states that even if it wasn’t worth it, the Great Railroad Strike showed that there is something amiss in their daily lives, and whatever it is, they are trying to fix it for t...
Any person, place or event that has held the honour of being commemorated in Canada has been recognized of an extreme importance to the country. It is impossible to research commemoration in Canada without reading about world war one and two; The great wars are arguably the most commemorated events in History let alone Canada. Understanding this they are not the only events that receive attention from Canada, the government recognizes many other occurrences as, well, anything from Sir John A. Macdonald day on the 11th of January to the anniversary of the statute of Westminster on the 11th of December. I do not believe that any one event can be placed above or below another, and that they all hold a value in whatever way that may be. This Essay
against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some
The unions resorted to many forms of tactics such as boycotts, picketing, and the less prominent “closed shop”. The most prevalent of these methods, however, was the formation of riots. During the late 19th century riots included: the Haymarket Square Riots (1886), the Homestead Lockout, and the Pullman Car Company strike. The Haymarket Square Riots of 1886 took place at the McCormick plant in Chicago, Illinois in response to the worker’s need for an eight hour workday. The first two days were innate, but the third day was where the the situation actually instigated the cause. The owner of the plant, McCormick, attempted to bring strikebreakers (scabs), and a battle had begun between the scabs and the strikers. The riot, wistfully, ended the lives of four men when the police began to attempt to impede and halter the situation. These four deaths initiated a chain reaction resulting in the calling for the revenge of the four men by German radical Johann Most. Despite Johann’s reaction, 200 more Chicago policemen ordered the remaining strikers to leave the area. In the crowd, in the moment, a homemade bomb was hurled leading in the death of one policeman; acting as a predecessor of events, this event lead to a shooting between the policemen and the strikers concluding with the death of four workers and seven more policemen; entirely approximately one hundred people were injured. The Haymarket Riots caused public opinion to turn against labor. The Homestead Lockout took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant and was instigated by Henry Clay Frick’s wage cut. In this riot workers walked out of the company and then Frick ordered company doors to be locked and trapped the workers inside. Employees rebelled and caused about 200 Pinkerton detectives to come up the river to protect company property and created a battle.
The Coal Strike of 1902 occurred as a result of many problems that were faced by miners. At the time of the coal strike there were 150,000 miners working in the mines (Grossman) Due to the depression of 1893, miners had their wages cut and were living in poverty (Grossman). Many miners were dissatisfied and looked to the United Mine Workers for support in raising their standard of living. This proved difficult since employers refused to recognize labor unions for fear of giving them significant control over the industry. In most instances of employee demands before 1902, employers would use government troops or hire immigrants to take the jobs of the strikers (David Kennedy).
The Winnipeg General Strike The year of 1919 has been one of the most influential years of strikes
On May 9th 1934 a organized labor strike started in San Francisco that would snowball into a city crippling strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) declared a strike for all longshoremen on the west coast, until they received better wages, a union-administered hiring hall, and union membership as a prerequisite for employed longshoremen. The Strike of 1934 lasted for three months, stopping maritime trade in the ports of the Western United States, from San Diego to Seattle. The clash was between the Industrial Association (IA), composed of big business and employers wanting to break the strike, and the ILA, along with other unions that dealt with maritime trades. The Strike of 1934 displayed the power the organized labor had, and how the mistreatment of labor can shut down an entire city and coast.