Winnipeg General Strike 100 years ago led to bloodshed, political change
WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg General Strike, which started 100 years ago Wednesday, lasted only six weeks.
But the fallout from the unprecedented display of strength by both ordinary workers and anti-union forces continues to be felt to this day.
While the workers returned to their jobs — those who weren’t fired anyway — and strike leaders were arrested, the walkout by 30,000 unionized and non-unionized labourers led to a royal commission, renewed unity in the labour movement, and the creation of a new political party.
“The workers may have been defeated in terms of their immediate objectives … but the work to change the world — certainly to change the city and their own neighbourhood — that didn’t come to an end. In fact, one might say it intensified,” said Nolan Reilly, a retired history professor from the University of Winnipeg.