Tag : History

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Standing in solidarity for our missing sisters

October 4, 2018
Sisters in Spirit Vigils on October 4th are an annual way to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls is a national tragedy that unions and the labour movement have been pressuring governments to address. Each year, the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and Families of Sisters…
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Striking workers shot and killed while marching with their families

September 29, 2018
On September 29, 1931, coal miners from nearby Bienfait gathered with their families, along with several hundred other miners and their families, to parade through the streets of Estevan in order to draw attention to their strike. The RCMP confronted them, attempting to block and break up the procession, then opened fire on the crowd. Three miners were killed and…
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Industrial workers of the world (iww) declared illegal in Canada

September 24, 2018
On September 24, 1918, the Canadian government made membership in the Industrial Workers of the World illegal. The maximum sentence for membership in the IWW was five years to be served in one of 24 internment camps. War brings out the worst in people and part of the propaganda of government in war time is to play on fear; fear of the…
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How a 99-day strike in 1945 changed labour relations in Canada

September 12, 2018
The 1945 strike by 11,000 workers at a Ford plant in Windsor, Ontario was a turning point in Canadian labour relations. The 99-day labour dispute spread to include another 25 plants as workers walked off the job in solidarity with Ford workers. It resulted in a 3-day, worker-lead blockade of the Ford plant to stop police from moving in to…
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Labour day – a holiday born in Canada

September 3, 2018
The first Monday in September has been an official holiday in Canada since 1894, and in the United States since 1892. But the origin of Labour Day came 20 years before that, when unions started holding parades and rallies in Toronto and Ottawa to celebrate the successful 1872 Toronto printers’ strike – the original “fight for fairness” that won major…
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First “gay rights” demonstration on Parliament Hill

August 28, 2018
On August 28, 1971 demonstrators presented a manifesto entitled “We Demand” that outlined a series of demands for equal rights for gays and lesbians. This was the first public march of its kind on Parliament Hill. Summer is the time for Pride events and marches in Canada. But while these celebrations are now somewhat commonplace in many cities across the…
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Songs of solidarity and social justice

August 18, 2018
One of Canada’s earliest folk music festivals was held on August 18, 1961 at Oval Park in Orillia, Ontario. The struggles of working people for fairness and social justice have been, and are still the focus of many folk singers. So many songs are linked to the history of unions and the lives of workers – a part of labour…
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Heron bridge collapse: Ontario’s worst workplace disaster

August 10, 2018
On the afternoon of August 10, 1966, a 160-foot span of a new bridge being built over the Rideau River and Canal gave way, dropping hundreds of tons of half set concrete about 60 feet into the river valley. Nine workers were killed and another 55 injured in the disaster – Ontario’s worst workplace “accident” It’s not listed among the…
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Passage of the unemployment insurance act

August 5, 2018
On August 5, 1940, the federal government passed the Unemployment Insurance Act, establishing a fundamental pillar of Canada’s social safety net. Years of political pressure from unions, social groups and the CCF (which became the NDP) forced the Liberal government to take action, even though the constitution had to be amended. More than 75 years later, the program has been…
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Labour leader’s murder triggers Canada’s first general strike

July 27, 2018
On July 27, 1918, Albert “Ginger” Goodwin, a well-known BC coalminer, pacifist and advocate for better working conditions in Canada’s mining sector, was hunted down and killed by a police officer. News of his death, which many believed were the result of his union activism, sparked Canada’s first General Strike as workers in Vancouver put down their tools and protested…
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