Since the general strike, workers have successfully fought for many important human rights initiatives including universal healthcare, minimum wage legislation, employment insurance and anti‐discrimination in the workplace. Politicians and labour activists continued to advocate for protections and better wages for workers, and had their voices heard. The formation of new unions and collective bargaining was another result of the strike. With both parties successfully negotiating a deal, the strike was officially called off on June 26, 1919. The committee stated it would end the strike if the premier agreed to have a Royal Commission examine the root causes of the strike. Hoping to avoid more violence, the Strike Committee met with Manitoba Premier T.C. This day became known as "Bloody Saturday." The local militia was called and they patrolled Winnipeg’s city centre alongside the RNWMP and Special Police. Strikers and bystanders began fleeing down side streets and through alleys only to run into Special Police lying in wait with batons at the ready. Shots were fired into the crowd and one man was killed. By then, the RNWMP had turned with clubs and revolvers drawn, and began driving the crowds of strikers and bystanders off the street. Mayor Gray read the Riot Act 2 and told the crowds to leave the area within 30 minutes. As they passed by City Hall, strikers hit them with rocks and bottles. The RNWMP arrived on the scene to restore order. Their appearance on the streets of Winnipeg created a new tension. They wore armbands and badges as identification and were armed with clubs. The Special Police tended to be returned war veterans who were against the strike. The Committee of One Thousand began recruiting “Special Police” to replace the dismissed police officers. A few weeks after the strike began, however, Mayor Charles Gray fired the police because they were sympathetic to the strikers. The city’s police also wanted to join the strike though they stayed on duty at the behest of the Strike Committee. Yet, at a mass meeting at Victoria Park, strikers rejected these threats. Many striking workers were given ultimatums by their employers: disavow the strike and return to work or lose your job. Their message was heard far and wide, with The New York Times even proclaiming, "BOLSHEVISM IN WINNIPEG." Although the strike was portrayed as a plot to overthrow the government, this was not the case.Īs the Committee of One Thousand tried to paint strikers as dangerous radicals intent on assuming power, workers in cities across Canada showed their solidarity with Winnipeg workers by holding sympathy strikes. They also published their own newspaper that painted the general strike as a Bolshevik revolution 1led by foreign agitators who needed to be deported. They did this by lobbying all three levels of government – civic, provincial, and federal – to crush the strike by any means necessary. They quickly formed the Citizens’ Committee of One Thousand to fight the strike. Winnipeg’s business elite were not happy with this dramatic turn of events.
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