SOME PERSONS, PLACES, AND EVENTS OF NATIONAL HISTORIC IMPORTANCE RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF CANADIAN WORKERS
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has recommended that a series of people, places, and events touching on particular aspects of the history of workers be designated for their national historic significance. Some of these subjects are profiled below.
PERSONS
Sir William Ford Coaker (1871-1938)
Coaker was a champion of working people in Newfoundland in the early 20th century. He fought especially on behalf of fishermen, sealers and loggers against the economic domination of the leading businessmen and merchants of St. John's. Some of his followers worked for pay while others owned their own means of production, such as their fishing boats, but all were at a disadvantage in a market controlled by the merchants. In 1908, Coaker established the Fishermen's Protective Union which fought for the interests of fishermen until 1960. He also established union stores, a newspaper, a political party, and the model community of Port Union, where, in the 1920s, fishermen led a life which was relatively independent of the St. John's merchants. Coaker also entered politics to pursue his goals, serving in the colony's cabinets of 1917 and 1919.
James Shaver Woodsworth (1874-1942)
Woodsworth was a social activist and Methodist minister intent on establishing God’s Kingdom on earth. Appalled by the plight of slum dwellers in the working-class areas of
James Shaver Woodsworth
© Library and Archives Canada [LAC] , C-57365 |
early 20 th century Winnipeg, he became an ardent supporter of trade unions, collective bargaining, and democratic socialism. He supported the
Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, when the life of the city was brought to a halt by striking workers demanding recognition of their bargaining rights and better wages and working conditions. Woodsworth was charged with seditious libel for publishing articles criticizing the arrest of strike leaders and the attacks of police on peaceful protesters. Drawing on his public recognition, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1921 where he served as an advocate of labour, farmer, and socialist interests until his death. In 1933, he became the first leader of the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the precursor of the NDP, and one of the most effective third parties in Canadian federal politics.
PLACES
Port Union Historic District
Located on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, Port Union is the only town in Canada established by a union. Founded in 1916 by William Ford Coaker and the Fishermen's Protective Union, it brought together fishermen from the surrounding area who were determined to achieve commercial independence from the St. John's merchants in order to attain a better quality of life. The town very quickly became a thriving commercial and industrial centre, with facilities comparable to St. John's within Newfoundland. Its original layout and many of its buildings are still intact, speaking of a creative experiment in community organization designed to improve the fortunes of working men and women.
EVENTS (AND PHENOMENA)
Chinese Construction Workers on the Canadian Pacific Railway
Chinese immigrant workers played a key role in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada's 'national railway.' In the early 1880s thousands of labourers were brought from China to help build the rail line through the mountains of British Columbia. About three-quarters of the men who worked on the section between the Pacific and Craigellachie, British Columbia, were Chinese. Although considered excellent workers, they received only a dollar a day, half the pay of a white worker, because of discriminatory attitudes at the time. Hundreds of Chinese died from accidents or illness, for the work was dangerous and living conditions poor. Those who remained in Canada when the railway was completed provided a basis for British Columbia's Chinese community.
Winnipeg General Strike
Occurring during a six-week period in May-June 1919, the Winnipeg General Strike was the most famous labour confrontation in Canadian history. It was a pivotal event pitting a united working class in Winnipeg against the bankers,
Crowd attempts to tip over a streetcar during the Winnipeg General Strike, 21 June 1919
© Library and Archives Canada [LAC] , C-034024 |
businessmen, and leading citizens of that city. Strikers shut down the city and took control of delivering essential services. While the strike was fought to support workers in the building and metal trades striving for better pay and working conditions, it also reflected the frustrations of the working class as a whole. Resentment had been growing during the First World War as workers' wages failed to keep up with business profits and the pace of inflation. The period immediately after the war was one of great revolutionary ferment in Canada and elsewhere as workers demanded a more just world. In Canada, the
One Big Union was in process of formation, dedicated to the goal of revolutionary change through massive work stoppages. Fearing that the Winnipeg strike was the beginning of an insurrection, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments decided to crush it. Police arrested the strike leaders and attacked marching strikers. New federal legislation was passed making it easier to arrest persons for sedition. While the strike was defeated, it was a turning point in the history of the Canadian labour movement. It marked a growing awareness in Canada of the strength of organized labour and led to its increased involvement in civic, provincial and federal politics.
On-to-Ottawa-Trek
The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a defining event of the Great Depression of the 1930s when much of the working class was unemployed and destitute. In 1935, over a thousand angry unemployed men left federal relief camps in British Columbia and boarded boxcars to take their demand for work and wages directly to Ottawa. As the march travelled east,
Protesters en route to Ottawa during the On-to-Ottawa Trek, 1935
© Library and Archives Canada [LAC] , C-029399 |
more destitute men swelled its ranks until the federal government became alarmed. The protest ended in Regina when the railways, at the urging of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett, refused further access to the trains. On the orders of Bennett, the RCMP then arrested the leaders, sparking the Regina riot in which one police officer was killed. The drama of the trek represented an eloquent expression of the frustration of the unemployed and the failure of the federal policy of confining single men in camps to discourage dissent. This incident ultimately encouraged a shift in federal government policy to one embodying a more flexible stance towards workers, including a social welfare 'safety net' to protect them in times of crisis.
Black Railway Porters and Their Union Activity
Railway porters played a major role in the struggle for Black rights in Canada. By the 1880s, African Canadians had begun to dominate this occupation. The Black porters soon emerged as leaders of the African Canadian community. They were, however, shut out of other railway job categories and forced to work in poor conditions. In 1918 they began to organize. Through their unions, such as the Order of Sleeping Car Porters and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, they fought for recognition within the white-dominated labour movement and for better treatment from their employers. By 1920, they had forced the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers to drop its racial restrictions upon membership, the first Canadian union to do so. After the Second World War, the porters made important contributions to the broader campaign for human rights in Canada, particularly through their successful struggle to end discrimination in railway employment.
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