Winnipeg General Strike Essay
Winnipeg General Strike
Shai-li Gawne
July 14, 2015
During the Winnipeg General Strike the actions of the authorities were not justified. The unjust actions were that they did not have any jobs for the soldiers coming home from the war. The authorities did not care that the working conditions for the citizens were unfair. Also, the authorities attacked striking citizens for no reason. For these reasons, their actions were unjustified.
During the General Strike, soldiers were coming home from the war but the jobs they had were not there when they got back. The authorities didn’t do anything about it and the soldiers were getting angry because the industrialists had grown rich selling goods to the army at high prices, and were now doing nothing to help the soldiers. The authorities did not protect the common interest of the workers.
Similar to the point above, the authorities didn’t care that the working conditions for the citizens were not good. The workers’ hours were 60 hours a week and the workers were trying to shorten it to 40 hours. The labour movement began when a group of western labour leaders formed a big union to unite all the workers in an effort to gain better working conditions, shorter hours and higher wages. The authorities saw the exact same thing happen in Russia and the union had overthrown the government, so the authorities were worried that this was going to happen in Canada. The workers went on strike and the authorities thought that the strikers were taking over the city. Therefore, the authorities fired all the police since they were sympathetic to the strikers and put volunteer “specials” in their place. The authorities kept ignoring what the workers wanted, which made the workers stay on the strike.
Lastly, the government ordered the workers to go back to their jobs and sent the North-West Mounted Police and army, with machine guns, in case they were needed.
Shai-li Gawne
July 14, 2015
During the Winnipeg General Strike the actions of the authorities were not justified. The unjust actions were that they did not have any jobs for the soldiers coming home from the war. The authorities did not care that the working conditions for the citizens were unfair. Also, the authorities attacked striking citizens for no reason. For these reasons, their actions were unjustified.
During the General Strike, soldiers were coming home from the war but the jobs they had were not there when they got back. The authorities didn’t do anything about it and the soldiers were getting angry because the industrialists had grown rich selling goods to the army at high prices, and were now doing nothing to help the soldiers. The authorities did not protect the common interest of the workers.
Similar to the point above, the authorities didn’t care that the working conditions for the citizens were not good. The workers’ hours were 60 hours a week and the workers were trying to shorten it to 40 hours. The labour movement began when a group of western labour leaders formed a big union to unite all the workers in an effort to gain better working conditions, shorter hours and higher wages. The authorities saw the exact same thing happen in Russia and the union had overthrown the government, so the authorities were worried that this was going to happen in Canada. The workers went on strike and the authorities thought that the strikers were taking over the city. Therefore, the authorities fired all the police since they were sympathetic to the strikers and put volunteer “specials” in their place. The authorities kept ignoring what the workers wanted, which made the workers stay on the strike.
Lastly, the government ordered the workers to go back to their jobs and sent the North-West Mounted Police and army, with machine guns, in case they were needed.