Wednesday, 4 June 1919 - Anti-strike veterans

Preparing to march, June 4, 1919

By this time the sight of 'pro-strike' veterans' daily marches to the legislature prompted those on the other side of the issue to mobilize. Today was one of the largest of the first 'anti-strike' marches by veterans.

Veterans reach city hall

For a good essay on the returning soldiers, including a summary of the 'pro-strike' and 'anti- strike' sides see Idionng's The Third Force: Returned Soldiers in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 (it's also the image source for the 2 MB Archives photos above).

June 4

Better image from the Great war Veterans Association Parade of June 4, 1919.

Tuesday, 3 June 1919 - Marches Get Larger

The daily parade of veterans to the Legislature continue:

On June 3 a parade formed again in Market Square, just behind the City Hall, but soon returned to nearby Victoria Park, where Roger E. Bray, a socialist who had become the spokesman for the returned soldiers, announced that the soldiers had met with the Premier also with unsatisfactory results.
 source

As reported in the New York Times:

Premier Norris of Manitoba and his Cabinet were publicly called on to resign by speakers of the delegation of returned soldiers, strikers, and strike sympathizers, who took possession of the Provincial Legislative Chamber today for the third time

One paragraph in that article mentions that the protesters tore down the sign out front of the Board of Trade building:

Some fear, as mentioned in the Telegram's editorial yesterday, that as the crowds grow well into the thousands and the temperatures soar over 30 degrees that the "one fool" needed to start violence will be easier to come by.

Protesters outside Board of Trade Building, Main Street
Library and archives Canada ID 21834

Tuesday, 3 June 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News June 3, 1919


- Declares that Soldiers Mean Business and provides details from yesterday's meeting with the Premier.

- Draft Shakespeare into the movement !



Winnipeg Citizen June 3, 1919


Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition June 3, 1919

- The Police Commission removes the ultimatum issued to former and new police officers that if that if they do not return to work and / or sign a pledge never to participate in a sympathetic strike (including this one) that they will be dismissed

- Vancouver strikes in sympathy with Winnipeg.

- The following ad appears from the 1000:

Monday, 2 June 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News June 2, 1919
- Appear buoyed by the veteran strikers
-Today's meetings

Winnipeg Citizen June 2, 1919
- An angry story entitled "They shall be known by their acts" takes up the entire front page, lashing out at the labour movement, including strikers and the Labor News.

Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition June 2, 1919
- Report that 10,000 veteran strikers converged on the Legislature this morning to visit Premier Norris. Led by A.E. Bray they present a petition to Norris demanding: compulsive collective bargaining; withdrawal of ultimatum to Winnipeg Police Force (to return and swear never to participate in a strike); the reinstatement of all provincial workers without discrimination. If he fails to meet these demands, they will call on the government to resign.

- Report that mass meetings and marches are becoming more unruly and "requires only one fool" within the crowd to trigger violence.

Saturday, 31 May 1919 - Moose Jaw

May 31, 1919 - A member of the executive of the Citizens' Committee of One Thousand delivers an address in Moose Jaw, a city in the midst of its own sympathetic general strike. The discussion was about the inner workings of the "1000" - how it was established and why.

He reiterated that the main purpose of the committee was to keep essential services going, he certainly does not hide his disdain for the strikers and the strike committee:



Above: A transcript of the speech was published as "An address on the subject of the Winnipeg strike, May-June, 1919: Delivered by a member of the Citizens' Committee of One Thousand to a deputation of citizens from Moose Jaw, Sask.: With especial reference to the enunciation therein contained upon the principles of 'collective bargaining'". Full text.

Saturday, 31 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 31, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 31, 1919

Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition May 31, 1919

Friday, 30 May 1919 - Toronto Streetcar Strike

Friday, 30 May - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 30, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 30, 1919

Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition May 30, 1919

Friday, 30 May 1919 - Veterans Speak

Returning veterans have been holding daily demonstrations of their own. Today a march of 4,000 calling for a peaceful end to the strike, including the abolition of the Committee of 1000 and a withdrawal of the ultimatum to the police that they sign pledge to never join a union or be dismissed. When the march reaches the Legislature, 2000 of the men enter the building demanding to see Premier Norris.  Source.

See Telegram: "Soldier strikers in Ugly Mood Today"

Thursday, 29 May 1919 - The Newsstand

On today's newsstand: The Western Labor News asks What is a Living Wage ? while the Winnipeg Citizen claims that thousands of workers were tricked into striking by Bolsheviks. 

The Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition carries a notice from Police Chief MacPherson that police officers (who did not walk out on strike) must sign a pledge by 1 p.m. tomorrow that they will not organize into a union "or any other organization." The penalty is dismissal.

The Trib and Telegram lay out their news policies during the strike.

Wednesday, 28 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 28, 1919
Perhaps having two competitors this week has put the Citizen on the defensive. Front page items today include a long article about why they choose to strike and another proclaiming that "95% of people" support the workers.

Winnipeg Citizen May 28, 1919
An open letter to the Citizens of Winnipeg

Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition May 28, 1919
- Reports that the Committee of 1000 is signing up volunteers to perfrom duties such as garbage collection

Tuesday, 27 May 1919 - The Newsstand Grows

There's a new, old paper on the newsstands today: The Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition !

Though anti-strike, the paper is not just strike news. It's a smaller version of the regular Telegraph with local and international news, wire features, sports and entertainment. Just like the Winnipeg Free Press, which is also publishing again*.

Western Labor News May 27, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 27, 1919

Winnipeg Telegram Strike Edition for May 27, 1919. The first Editorial Page and the following full page ad - "first in a series":
*The Winnipeg Free Press also resumed publishing but it's archives are behind a subscription wall so I cannot link to them on a daily basis.

Today, though, they reported on the decision by city council to fire striking city workers. Notices to fill positions are to be readied. Strikers can reapply for their old jobs but would have to denounce the strike.

Tuesday, 27 May 1919

The scope of the strike widens as more cities take sympathetic strike votes.

It was also receiving increased international attention, written extensively in publications like the New York Times. Today's story (pdf):

Monday, 26 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News for May 26, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen for May 26, 1919

Monday, 26 May 1919

The Post Office ultimatum has come and past. Of the hundreds of postal workers on strike only 16 return to work (source). A moral victory for the strikers.

Monday, 26 May 1919 - Hot in the City

Adding to to the tensions, the last week of May 1919 is unseasonably hot. From May 24 to 30 highs are at or above 30 degrees.

Sunday, 25 May 1919 - Postal Deadline

Sundays are a day for family. Even during the strike the respective propaganda newspapers took the day off.

Seven thousand workers show up for an evening gathering at Victoria Park. Some may have come to enjoy the cool breeze off the river on a 30 degree day but others came bearing news of an employer's ultimatum.

The Post Office has told it's workers that if they don't show up for work tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. they are terminated, along with any pension they may have earned (source).

Main Post Office, Portage and Garry

Saturday, 24 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Today's Winnipeg Citizen headline: Strike Unjustified; Citizens Must Stand firm

The Citizen is paraphrasing Arthur Meighan, Manitoba M.P. and federal Minister of the Interior, who is in Winnipeg. The citizen quotes him as saying "It is up to the citizens of Winnipeg to stand firm and resist efforts made here to overturn proper authority"


The Western Labor News of May 24, 1919 tells strikers "Don't worry and don't work."

Friday, 23 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Winnipeg Citizen May 23, 1919 Read the full Edition !

Western Labor News May 23, 1919 Read the full edition !

The following is an excerpt from the Toronto Daily Star on this day:

Outward Appearances Show No Sign Of Any Big Strike
Toronto Daily Star, 23 May 1919, W.R. Plewman

The strikers have gone pretty far and they have made some mistakes but they have not perpetrated Bolshevism.

The writer came to the city (Winnipeg) understanding that the Strike Committee of Five had inaugurated a reign of terror, preventing willing workers from serving their employers and the public and allowing only a few employers, who would submit to the humiliation of displaying signs "By permission of the Strike Committee" to carry on. It was that idea and the vision of impending Bolshevik horrors that drove nearly all the non-strikers into one camp and made virtually all those who are not manual workers enthusiastic supporters of the offensive now being waged by the Citizen's Committee. But the whole thing is a delusion and a figment of the imagination.

There is no Soviet. There was little or no terrorism.

Star Source

Victoria Park

By now, the strike had settled into a bit of a routine. One of those routines were the daily gatherings at Victoria Park. It was a place for workers to meet, share stories, get the latest news, listen to speeches. Later it would also be a starting point for marches that would come later in the strike.

Victoria Park, established in 1894, was located on a stretch of land behind the present day Concert Hall: roughly from the MTC Warehouse down to Waterfront Drive. An aerial photo can be found here.

For more on strike action in Victoria Park.

Strikers at Victoria Park

Thursday, 22 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 22, 1919

- Repeals the need for "those cards":


Winnipeg Citizen May 22, 1919

- Claims moral victory in strike card issue:

- Examines the One Big Union vote workers will be taking later in the summer. Concludes that it "...proves there is a revolutionary movement on..." and that "...unless Winnipeg throttles this general strike idea right here an now, Winnipeg herself will be throttled again on July 1st."
The Alberta Non-Partisan editorializes How the Might Have Fallen, referring to the major daily newspapers which, to date, have not yet resumed publishing. It muses that it dismisses the popular myth "...that Labour can get along without capital but that Capital cannot get along without Labour".

Wednesday, 21 May 1919 - The Newsstand

The papers compete for the hearts and minds of Winnipeggers:

Western Labor News May 21, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 21, 1919

"Permitted by Authority of Strike Committee"

A symbol of the strike that angered the Citizens' Committee of 1000 was the "By Authority of the Strike Committee" permit cards issued by the Strike Committee to those doing what they deemed "essential services".

In speeches and interviews the "1000" denounced the signs. Here is how they felt, from the pages of their own newspaper:

Tuesday, 20 May 1919 - Brandon's Sympathetic Strike Growing

Brandon workers chose May 20 as the day for a sympathetic strike.

Yesterday 125 CP workers walked off the job, today 100 CN rail workers left. Many more are expected as the days go by.

Workers at Brandon Implement and Machinery c 1913

Brandon Strike Resources:
- Brandon, 1919: Labour and Industrial Relations in the Wheat City in the Year of the General Strike
- Let us rise! : a history of the Manitoba labour movement

Tuesday, 20 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 20, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 20, 1919

Monday, 19 May 1919

The Winnipeg Citizen newspaper begins publication. It is an organ of the Citizen's Committee of One Thousand.

Read today's edition.

Monday, 19 May 1919

Minutes from today's meeting of the Winnipeg Strike Committee shows the impact of the "By Authority of Strike Committee Cards."

Monday, 19 May 1919 - The Newsstand

Western Labor News May 19, 1919

Winnipeg Citizen May 19, 1919

National Wire Story:

Winnipeg Strike is More Serious than Reported: Two Federal Ministers on Way West to "Restore Order" Says Ottawa

May 18 - The Strike Committee

The Winnipeg Strike Committee:


The Winnipeg Strike committee was created by representatives of the unions that were part of the Trades and Labour Council. The were organized into subcommittees and an executive Central Strike Committee of five. This Central Committee was the decision making body for labour, and thus the city, during the strike.

Sunday, 18 May 1919 - Mayor Gray: Zero Tolerance

Proclamations by Mayor Gray on May 18th outlining a couple of zero tolerance matters:

"Let me make this absolutely clear. If the food supplies and the protection of life and property are not maintained I shall take whatever action may be necessary to secure them and maintain the authority of the government as it is established by the voice of the people".

May 17 - The Newsstand

The New York Times reports (see full pdf):

WINNIPEG STRIKE SPREADS FURTHER; Telegraphers Tie Up Wire Service and Railway Men May Join Walkout.

WINNIPEG, Man., May 17.--Reports were current tonight, the third of the general strike involving eighty unions and 30,000 men and women, that the Winnipeg locals of the three great railroad brotherhoods were considering the advisability of joining the strikers. It was also reported that stockyards employes would walk out Monday.

May 17 - Citizens' Committee of 1000

May 17, 1919 - The Citizens' Committee of One Thousand is set up by business leaders to counteract the Strike Committee.

Citizens' Committee of One Thousand, source.

The main goal of the 1000 is to provide essential services to the city while workers are off the job. In their first official statement they give themselves a wider task:

The Citizens Committee of Winnipeg has taken steps to form itself into a permanent organization for the purpose of arousing Dominion-wide interest in the necessity of upholding proper respect for the law and to combat the Bolshevistic propaganda which is being so industriously sown in Western Canada.

Official Statement

Volunteers "man" the pumps

Citizens' Committee HQ

May 16 - New York Times : Winnipeg is Tied Up

From the N.Y. Times:

Friday, 16 May 1919

Today's Western Labour News proudly proclaims: Workers Back Strikers to the Limit. General Strike Overwhelmingly Supported.

On the front page of today's Free Press is a quote from Thomas Roden, president of the Toronto branch of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association. He made the comments about the Winnipeg situation at their annual meeting which took place yesterday.:

  " In the matter of the present strike of the metal trades, no sensible man can possibly sympathize with their demands. The position of the metal workers is one of the most extraordinary positions' ever taken, and can only be taken by people who are desperate to obtain some demand which they know to be unjust.

"The demand for an 8-hour day is only a play upon the sentiment of the times. It is true some trades
have an 8-hours day. The printing trades have an 8-hour day, but it means a 48-hour week to them.
These people want a 44-hour week, although it may be suicidal to Canadian-industry."

Thursday, 15 May 1919 - Day of Action

May 15, 1919, Winnipeg Tribune

7:00 am - As the night shift ends for 500 government telephone operators there are no workers to replace them. These women begin the Winnipeg General Strike four hours earlier than the 11:00 am call and communications within the city soon come to a stand still.

8:00 am - The Free Press hits the streets with a font page appeal from Mayor Gray to all citizens asking for for calm:



11:00 am - As scheduled, factories, office buildings, fire halls, workshops, retail outlets, garages begin to empty. By lunchtime, 94 unions walk of the job, approximately 25,000 employees.

Wednesday, 14 May 1919 - Zero Hour is Near

The headline in the Free Press:


The Mayor and Premier express concern at the vote and meet today at 2 pm with representatives from labour and business to seek a compromise.

That meeting is unsuccessful and by the end of day Robinson was contacting senior representatives, such as the city electrician, to inform them that the strike was on:


Mayor Gray sends a lengthy telegram to the acting premier Sir Thomas White and Federal Labour Minister Gideon Robertson summing up the situation and requesting assistance:

Tuesday, 13 May 1919 - The Results

Though not all unions have cast their ballots yet, a majority have and the results of the strike vote are officially announced.

At the end of the Trades and Labour Council meeting, Alderman E. Robinson, who also happens to be the secretary of the Council, reads the following statement:

“A General Strike has been called of all organizations affiliated with the Trades and Labor Council.

The Strike will take effect at 11 o’clock on Thursday morning. Every organization but one has voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike, and the biggest strike in the history of Winnipeg will take place as above stated.

No exceptions are anticipated in this strike. All public Utilities will be tied up in order to enforce the principle of collective bargaining.”

Later it would be made public that the vote count was 11,000 to 500 in favour of action.

The mayor and premier are on-hand to hear the results.

May 12

The results are coming in and a majority of unions have so far voted in favour of strike: bricklayers; jewellery workers; electrical workers; pressmen. The only exception so far is the typographical union, on the request of it's international arm.

Voting will continue over the next two days.

Sunday, 11 May 1919 - Voting Day

Voting begins today for Winnipeg Trades Council members.

They are asked whether or not they support a general strike in sympathy to the building and metal trades.

Tuesday, 6 May 1919

The Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council announce that they will hold a city-wide strike vote of other organized workers on May 11th.