THB STR]KES IN WfNNIPEG ]N MAY 1918 THE PRELUDB TO I9T9? A Thesis Presented to rFha ïrqnrr'll-r¡ ¡ *v 4! vdf ^fvJ GfadUate StUdieS and ReSearCh University of Manitoba In Partial Ful-filment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Ari;s by A. Ernest Johnson l]ahnrr¡nr¡ I C-^ *vv+4e¿./, -)ló THE STRIKES IN I¡IINNIPEG IN I'IAY L918 THE PRELUDE TO 7979? BY A. ERNEST JOHNSON A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the University of Manitobu in p:rrtial fulfillment of the requirements of the tlegrce of @'r 1978 Per¡¡lission has been grantctl to the LIBRARY OF TtlU UN¡VDR- SITY OF MANITOIIA tt¡ lond or sell copies of tlris dissertatio¡r. to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to lrricrot'ilm tl¡is dissertation and to lend or sell copies of the filnr, and UN¡VIIRSITY MICROFTLMS to publish a¡r ubstract of this disscrtation 5 The author reserves other publication rights, and ncithcr the dissertation nor extcnsivc extracts t'run¡ it nl¡¡y be printed or other- wise reproduced without thc uutht¡r's writtc¡r ¡rernrission. PREFACE i¡lhile realizing the necessi-ty of being aware of the work of others, in order to get a reasonably adequate vj-ew of the events of May 1918 in hiinniPegr it has been necessary to make extensive use of primary sources, contemporary newspapersr interviews, and archival- material-. hiherever possible the information closest to the source has been used. ñ^-f^m^¡rvvr¡vs¡'¡:v-:AYy neWspApers have been particularly valuable primary sources because they tended to report in depth about meetings, speeches r agreements o and announcementso Fortunately, by making comparisons with official- documents, now avail-able, it has been possible to verify that in general, newspaper reports were reasonably accurate. Except for the lglgef*S", most newspapers kept their news gathering function quite sharply separated from their editorial- function. fnterviews have been conducted with the real-ization that elderly people do not always remember the past as it reatly was. Their percepti-ons are, nevertheless, interesting. a1 Archival material- has been invaluable in corroborating newspaper reports and in discovering the involvement of official-s of the City of 'hiinnipeg and of the government at Ottawa. Much of this material-, often marked secret and confidential-, has been so fascinating that j-t was difficult to decide what to excl-ude. f wish to express my thanks to all who have assisted and encouraged me in the preparation of this thesis. The staffs of both the Publ-ic Archives of Canada at Ottawa, and the Public Archives of Manitoba at l,rlinnipeg, were always particularly helpful. My advisero Professor l,ri.D. Smith has provided me with many valuable suggestions o for these and for hi-s patience, I am most grateful. Finally I am indebted to the J.S. Ewart memorial fund for making it possible for me to conduct essential research in Ottawa. Ir-1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Pl crc PRBFACB ii I INTRODUCTION t 7 IT THE CONDITION OF THE hIORKER I III THE IÙAR BACKGRCIUND IN 19]B </ TV NEGOTIATIQNS AND THE \^IAR BONUS o_L V THE STRIKE PHASE ONE 7? VI THE STRIKE PHASE TWO 111 VII THE SETTLEMENT, COMPARISONS, AND CONCLUSION -LO O APPBNDIX T SAMPLB TELEGRAM TO OTTAWA, MAY 15 r Rr II SPECIAL COMM]TTBE OF THB COUNCIL REPORT, MAY 11, 1918 186 III REPORT OF CITIZENS I COMMITTEE OF QNE HUNDRBD MAY 23 t 1918 rRo IV THE AGREEMENT !\IHICH ENDBD THE STRIKE, MAY 24, r91B r gr V COST OF L]VING INFORMATION 10) V] MEMBERS OF THE C]TY COUNCIL 1918 AND I9L9 ryo VII BIOGRAPHICAL INFQRMATION r oR Names in the body of the thesis, included in this appendix, will be identÍfied wi h an asterisk the first time they appear A SELECTBD BIBL]OGRAPHY 203 ABBREVIATIONS P.A.C.: Publ-ic Archives of Canada P.A.M.: Publ-ic Archives of Manitoba R. N. t^i. M. P. Royal North I¡rlest Mounted Pol-ice vnÞR .I a ¡L a . Canadian Pacific Railway V CHAPTER I in a few days approximately fifteen thousandt six hund.red workmen were on strike, absolutely demoral-i zing al-l- busi-ness in I'rlinnipeg and seriously affectlng trade throughout atl the hiestern Provinces to interrupting the shops and freight sheds In these words senator Gideon Robertsonr* the federal government mediator, reported to Ottawa about a major strike in l,riinnj-peg. Superficially, the circumstances described appear to be yet another reference to the well known Winnipeg General- Strike Óf L9I9. The date of the report, however, is May 25, 1918. Other contemporary estimates of the number of workers inyolved nanged from fourteen thousand to seventeen thousand.'2 fn wartime with labor in short supply this extent of unrest woul-d have disrupted the operatj-on of l- P. A. c . Borden Papers, vo1 .39\ , p,22\l , Letter from Senator Gideon Robertson to the Honorable T.I,f . Crothers, Minister of Labor at Ottawa, May 25, 1918 2 Ruga"ding the number of workers on strike in 19IB: The Manitoba Free Press, May 2\, 1918, Þ.3, suggests tinat a ffiio oâte estimate_might be r4r4l-2, k" Y9k, the labor paper, May 3f, l-918, Þ.trr uses !!u higher r-róu¿çF.? ^"ø^ vr^+r -11 "7 ¡C00.t However, Senator Robertsonrs figure of 151600 is probably the most accurate estimate of the number on strj-ke available to anybody. Because of his intimate involvement in confi-dential- negotiations as mediator in the dispute, he would most likely have been informed of the true sltuation. lriinnipeg industry.3 Not surprisingfy, although by strict definition it had not at that time expanded to the point at which the epithet was val-id, netlspapers j-n Winnipeg, and across Canada, repeatedly labelted these 1918 tl disturbances as tta general strikertt ttune grève généraIe.tt- In fact, had the course of events been only slightly different, this stri-ke of 19fB rather than that of the succeeding year may well have become more general-ly known as The l,rlinnipeg General Strike. The Borden government considered the 1918 Winnipeg strike to be serious enough to take Senator Gideon Robertson from ôther pressing dutj-es in Ottawa and to send him to Winnipeg to attempt to settle the dispute. And in general it was considered such a dangerous threat to warti-me industrial effici-ency that the strikers themselves r^rere branded traitors and enemy sympathizerst 3 e"cause of the demand.s of the military, both for men in uniform and labor in war industry, it is possi-ble that the i-mpact of this 1918 strike was even greater than j-n L9I9 when many men became availabl-e from overseas and from cl-osed war plants. The wartime shortage of manpower is examined in Chapter III. L T 'i7 IVTo'i f Of R r:!To ]llffléj_lTìar¡nin I r fIo.-L t L) -Lv t p ,2, The Voj-cç, May 24r 191-8, p.tr. The hlinnipeE Telegram, Mer¡ 7 , ]918, pr3. k_-WiF1iI"9$. fni.jgf,g, May fô, 191ör p.1. and were threatened with arnest and immedj-ate compulsory military service.5 The lriinnipeg rrgeneral't strike of 19rB aroused intense feelings among the participants, and without doubt would have eventually involved workers in numbers suffj-cient to rival those that did go on strike in I9f9. Only the very special circumstances of wartime fgIB prevented the strj-ke from embroil-ing many more workers in the labor dispute.'â. Even so ¡ numbers alone cannot be the sol-e criterion of eventual- impact. The 1918 labor troubles are intimately connected with those of L9I9. Certain organizations and groupings that were conceived in I91B were reactivated in L9L9. Individual-s prominent in l-91-B necame eentral- figures in I9I9. And significantly, attitudes and ideas which originated during, and as a result of, the 1918 strike became important in the I9I9 strike. But few authors of ibhe many who have offered i-nterpretations of the Ìrlinnipeg General- Strike of I9I9 pay more than passi-ng attention to the background of events in 19f8. More ' I'li+"ip-""_g T.ftk*fr.ç, May 2, 1918 r p.1. r4.p."VSfçS, May r0, 1918 r p.5. Ffrqipeg=I9-re.gî,,?g, Mav t5 a 1918 r p.3. Hpåpg Tfj.bt¿ng, May I7 t l9f Ur Þ.9. Joj/.{net -Prgjss*, May 2I, l9fur n.P. n " The total number involved was diminished by the particular l-abor strategy fol-lowed in 1918. Many more workers had indicated their willingness to go out on strike but were not call-ed out on strike by the Trades and Labor Council of V'linnipeg. The origin of the l-abor strike strategy is exami-ned i-n Chapter VI. importantly, even those studies which consider the 1918 situation do not seem to give fufl importance to the all pervasive infl-uence of hiorld lnlar One' Therefore, the specific purpose of this study is to rl.tpmntøvvv¡¡¡yv tovv r.cinterni.et!v¿rlvv¿ì/¡vv the strike i-n i,riinnipeg in May 1918, by examining its origins, its events, and its surrounding circumstances. ltihile actions and events can usually be authenticated, motivatj-ons tend to be hidden, and may be obscure even to the participants. Neverthelessr through the examination of the viewpoints and actj-ons of individuals ' l-abor men, city offici-als, and officers of the government al Ottawa, it shoul-d be possible to make Some reasonabl-e Specul-ations on the motivations behind their Various courses of action.