Paralysis of services

The paralysis of services in the city led to a crisis over the distribution of bread, milk, ice and other essential goods and services.

Strike leaders, realizing a full shutdown of the city was detrimental to everyone, met at the Labour Temple and decided some services must continue.

A special food committee was established, and those given authorization to deliver necessities were provided with permission cards so strikers and their supporters would allow them to work without hassle.

Permission cards were given to workers authorized by the strike committee to deliver essential services. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC) Post image on Pinterest: Permission cards were given to workers authorized by the strike committee to deliver essential services. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

Permission cards were given to workers authorized by the strike committee to deliver essential services. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

The food committee set up distribution centres around the city. (City of Winnipeg Archives) Post image on Pinterest: The food committee set up distribution centres around the city. (City of Winnipeg Archives)

The food committee set up distribution centres around the city. (City of Winnipeg Archives)

Police and firefighters remained on the job, as did workers in the city's water department, who were there to ensure enough pressure was maintained to supply all structures. But without full crews, there was only enough pressure to serve the first storey of any building.



Anti-strikers said those restrictions proved the strike committee was taking control of the city.

A Winnipeg Tribune headline declared "To all practical purposes, Winnipeg is now under the Soviet system of government."

Headline in the Winnipeg Telegram's evening edition, the day the police force was fired. (Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: Headline in the Winnipeg Telegram's evening edition, the day the police force was fired. (Archives of Manitoba)

Headline in the Winnipeg Telegram's evening edition, the day the police force was fired. (Archives of Manitoba)

On June 9, the city fired nearly the entire municipal police force for refusing to sign a loyalty pledge, called the "Slave Pact" by critics, promising not to participate in the sympathetic strike.

In place of the fired force, the city deputized 1,800 special constables recruited by the Citizens' Committee and made up of men opposed to the strike, including some veterans.

The "specials," as they were known, were not trained officers, but they were given clubs and authority — and paid more than the fired officers had been.

The clubs were made of wagon spokes, chair legs or other wooden rods, with holes bored through one end and a rope looped through to attach to the specials' wrists.

Special constables, made up of men opposed to the strike, being sworn in at city hall on June 9. (David Millar collection/Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: Special constables, made up of men opposed to the strike, being sworn in at city hall on June 9. (David Millar collection/Archives of Manitoba)

Special constables, made up of men opposed to the strike, being sworn in at city hall on June 9. (David Millar collection/Archives of Manitoba)

A wooden billy club used in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. (Canadian Museum of History) Post image on Pinterest: A wooden billy club used in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. (Canadian Museum of History)

A wooden billy club used in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. (Canadian Museum of History)

They put their powers to the test the next day when a large crowd of strikers and supporters — pro-strike veterans, men, women and children — gathered at Portage Avenue and Main Street.

Specials on foot and horseback tried to clear the crowd.

"They were working on the idea [that] two's company and three's a crowd," witness Jim Hay told the CBC on the 50th anniversary of the strike.

A crowd of strikers and supporters gathered at Portage Avenue and Main Street on June 19, 1919. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: A crowd of strikers and supporters gathered at Portage Avenue and Main Street on June 19, 1919. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba)

A crowd of strikers and supporters gathered at Portage Avenue and Main Street on June 19, 1919. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba)

"If three people stopped to speak, [the specials] would come in to break the thing up. Quite close to where I was standing, there was three chaps talking and this horseman come along and says, ‘Keep going, keep going.'

"These fellas didn't move, they just kept talking. So he walked his horse in among them, three of them, and knocked one of them over backwards."

Other specials did much the same, swinging their clubs, pushing people to disperse. The crowd fought back, hurling bottles, bricks and stones.

Sgt. Fred Coppins, a returned veteran serving as a special, was pulled from his horse and beaten. He was treated at a hospital and made a full recovery, but the incident further fuelled anti-strike sentiment.

Special constables equipped with clubs made from wagon wheels approaching Portage and Main on June 10. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: Special constables equipped with clubs made from wagon wheels approaching Portage and Main on June 10. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba)

Special constables equipped with clubs made from wagon wheels approaching Portage and Main on June 10. (L.B. Foote collection/Archives of Manitoba)

Special constables on horseback rushed through a crowd at the corner of Portage and Main on June 10, 1919 (Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: Special constables on horseback rushed through a crowd at the corner of Portage and Main on June 10, 1919 (Archives of Manitoba)

Special constables on horseback rushed through a crowd at the corner of Portage and Main on June 10, 1919 (Archives of Manitoba)

As the strike wore on, workers and their families found themselves increasingly hard-pressed to pay bills and put food on the table, but on June 16, there was some reason for optimism.

The ironmasters proposed a compromise, offering concessions to their opposition to collective bargaining. However, they continued to refuse to bargain with the Metal Trades Council.

When the proposal was rejected by the strike committee, the government swept in.

That evening and into the early hours of June 17, the North-West Mounted Police carried out a number of raids.

The raid on 1919 General Strike leader George Armstrong's home, as recalled in 1969 by neighbour Mary Jordan.

They targeted the homes of 10 strike leaders, pulling some of them from their beds. Labour halls also were raided, with police confiscating the subscription lists from the editorial office of the Western Labor News.

"I just remember it was very dark and we saw the cars and the people outside the house, there was a noise and a commotion, and we were frightened because we knew people were getting arrested and taken to jail," Mary Jordan, who lived kitty-corner to George and Helen Armstrong, recalled to the CBC during the strike's 50th anniversary.

Strike leaders Queen, Ivens, Russell, Armstrong, Abraham Albert (A. A.) Heaps, Roger Bray, Samuel Blumenberg, Michael Charitinoff, Solomon Almazoff and Oscar Schoppelrie were arrested and taken to Winnipeg's Vaughan Street jail.

Two others, Bill Pritchard and Richard James (Dick) Johns, weren't in the city at the time but were arrested soon after.

Strike leaders at Winnipeg's Vaughan Street jail. Back row, left to right, R. E. Bray; G. Armstrong; J. Queen; R. B. Russell; R. J. Johns; W. A. Pritchard. Front row: W. A. Ivens; A. A. Heaps. (Winnipeg Strike photo collection/Archives of Manitoba)

Mayor Gray said he was not behind the raids, which were primarily the idea of Citizens' Committee founding member Alfred (A.J.) Andrews and Senator Robertson, Manitoba Historical Society documents say.

On June 18, the government announced the arrested strike leaders would be held for deportation proceedings. Andrews, a former mayor and prominent city lawyer who owned a Wellington Crescent riverside mansion, would lead the prosecution.

"Just the very notion, the idea of that dual role, is an outrage," said University of Manitoba Prof. Delloyd Guth, a legal historian.

A.J. Andrews, a prominent city lawyer and member of the Citizens' Committee of 1,000, would lead the prosecution. (City of Winnipeg Archives) Post image on Pinterest: A.J. Andrews, a prominent city lawyer and member of the Citizens' Committee of 1,000, would lead the prosecution. (City of Winnipeg Archives)

A.J. Andrews, a prominent city lawyer and member of the Citizens' Committee of 1,000, would lead the prosecution. (City of Winnipeg Archives)

A headline claims that documents obtained in raids on strike leaders' homes and the Labour Temple revealed a seditious conspiracy. (University of Manitoba Archives) Post image on Pinterest: A headline claims that documents obtained in raids on strike leaders' homes and the Labour Temple revealed a seditious conspiracy. (University of Manitoba Archives)

A headline claims that documents obtained in raids on strike leaders' homes and the Labour Temple revealed a seditious conspiracy. (University of Manitoba Archives)

Later that morning, a meeting of angry strikers and supporters was held at Victoria Park, while sympathy strikes broke out in other parts of Canada.

Bail was granted to the six British- and Canadian-born leaders on June 20, but only on the condition that they would take no further part in the strike. The four "foreigners" — Blumenberg, Charitinoff, Almazoff and Schoppelrie — were denied bail and remained inside the penitentiary.

The freed leaders and many in the Central Strike Committee agreed to back down from strike action, fearing further arrests.

However, they could not convince the enraged strikers and pro-strike soldiers, who met that evening at Market Square, adjacent to city hall, and planned a silent march the following day.

Mayor Gray, who had renewed his ban on parades, warned them that civic authorities had "absolutely committed themselves to the breaking up of any demonstrations" and "any women taking part in a parade do so at their own risk."

Sympathy strikes broke out across Canada after the labour leaders were arrested in Winnipeg. (Library and Archives Canada) Post image on Pinterest: Sympathy strikes broke out across Canada after the labour leaders were arrested in Winnipeg. (Library and Archives Canada)

Sympathy strikes broke out across Canada after the labour leaders were arrested in Winnipeg. (Library and Archives Canada)

Mayor Charles Gray made a proclamation prohibiting parades after a number by both the pro- and anti-strike sides. (Archives of Manitoba) Post image on Pinterest: Mayor Charles Gray made a proclamation prohibiting parades after a number by both the pro- and anti-strike sides. (Archives of Manitoba)

Mayor Charles Gray made a proclamation prohibiting parades after a number by both the pro- and anti-strike sides. (Archives of Manitoba)

That set the stage for the riotous events of Bloody Saturday, June 21.

What started as a silent parade turned into a violent confrontation, with a crowd attacking and burning a streetcar, police and specials storming into the crowd, people beaten and shot, two men dead and the military taking over the streets.

It ultimately spelled the end of the strike, which officially ended five days later.

The strikers had been defeated, but their actions laid the foundation for the unions and labour rights that protect Canadian workers today.