Till date, the Winnipeg General strike has left a lasting impact on unions and government enforced legislation against workers. In this essay, I argue that the committee indeed was the leading cause of the Winnipeg General strike in 1919, known as Bloody Saturday. Due to failing negotiations, harsh measures to stop the strike and basic humanitarian needs, the strike was simply an outcry of the situation.
The situation had been bubbling up longer then the Saturday itself. Negotiations had started 3 months before the official strike broke out. The table was quite complex. Negotiations were held between employers of the Winnipeg Builders Exchange and the Union, composed of government officials. Both playing significant roles under the Building …show more content…
The standard of living was much below middle class at the time, in fact many were in debt. Strikers, or employers, wanted enough to provide basic necessities to families at home and to themselves. As an interviewer explained "This strike is not engineered from Russia ... In reality the strike has nothing to do with revolution. It is an attempt to meet a very pressing and immediate need. The organized workers like everyone else are faced with the high cost of living. Like most people they imagine that is if they can get higher wages they can buy more food ... ". The roaring 20’s, a time of economic boom came with an increase of cost of living. The economy had just risen causing inflation. Everyday necessities like milk were put to halt because of the chaos in Winnipeg. Over 10’000 people unemployed, and more then half in near debt. The average wage was not enough to suppress everyday needs of the civilians. The goal was to come out of the strike with new contracts for employers but rather came recession for most companies. It had not only become a problem for employers but for all Winnipeg. The government was in shock when employers that had no relation to the strike were willing to give up their jobs in order to support others. The citizens came together not just to fight the wage barrier but to fight the idea of communism the union and government were starting to
The situation had been bubbling up longer then the Saturday itself. Negotiations had started 3 months before the official strike broke out. The table was quite complex. Negotiations were held between employers of the Winnipeg Builders Exchange and the Union, composed of government officials. Both playing significant roles under the Building …show more content…
The standard of living was much below middle class at the time, in fact many were in debt. Strikers, or employers, wanted enough to provide basic necessities to families at home and to themselves. As an interviewer explained "This strike is not engineered from Russia ... In reality the strike has nothing to do with revolution. It is an attempt to meet a very pressing and immediate need. The organized workers like everyone else are faced with the high cost of living. Like most people they imagine that is if they can get higher wages they can buy more food ... ". The roaring 20’s, a time of economic boom came with an increase of cost of living. The economy had just risen causing inflation. Everyday necessities like milk were put to halt because of the chaos in Winnipeg. Over 10’000 people unemployed, and more then half in near debt. The average wage was not enough to suppress everyday needs of the civilians. The goal was to come out of the strike with new contracts for employers but rather came recession for most companies. It had not only become a problem for employers but for all Winnipeg. The government was in shock when employers that had no relation to the strike were willing to give up their jobs in order to support others. The citizens came together not just to fight the wage barrier but to fight the idea of communism the union and government were starting to