Browse "Strikes"
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Article
Asbestos Strike of 1949
The Asbestos Strike began on 14 February 1949 and paralyzed major asbestos mines in Quebec for almost five months. The Quebec government sided with the main employer, an American-owned company, against the 5,000 unionized mine workers. From the start, the strike created conflicts between the provincial government and the Roman Catholic Church, which usually sided with the government (see Catholicism in Canada). One of the longest and most violent labour conflicts in Quebec history, it helped lay the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution. This is the full-length entry about the Asbestos Stike of 1914. For a plain-language summary, please see Asbestos Stike of 1949 (Plain-Language Summary).
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Editorial
Asbestos Strike: Turning Point in Quebec History
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. The strike that began on 14 February 1949 in Asbestos, Quebec, is one of those events that resonate beyond the immediate and define history. It was, as Pierre Trudeau later wrote, “a violent announcement that a new era had begun.”
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Article
Asbestos Strike of 1949 (Plain-Language Summary)
Asbestos is a mineral. It has many uses. For instance, it can be used for insulation, furnaces and brake pads. Quebec produced the most asbestos in the world by 1949, 85 per cent. In February 1949, thousands of miners in a town called Asbestos as well as Thetford Mines went on strike (see Val-des-Sources (Asbestos)). The government in Quebec was against the workers. It sided with the main employer, the American-owned Johns-Manville Company. The Catholic Church was for the workers (see Catholicism in Canada). This made the government and the Church clash. The strike is famous for two main reasons. First, it was violent. Second, it contributed to the creation of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. The Quiet Revolution was a time when francophones assumed more leadership positions in Quebec. This article is a plain-language summary of the Asbestos Strike of 1949. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Asbestos Strike of 1949.
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Cape Breton Strikes 1920s
The CAPE BRETON labour wars of the early 1920s represented an intense local episode of class conflict similar to the WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE (1919).
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CUPW Postal Strikes
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) is a labour union that represents over 55,000 members across Canada (2024). Members of the CUPW include Canada Post employees as well as couriers, vehicle mechanics, and other workers in the private sector. (See also Postal System.) Since 1965 the CUPW (previously Canadian Postal Employees Association) has represented members in numerous strikes, walkouts and lockouts over several complex labour issues. (See also Strikes and Lockouts.)
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Nine Hour Movement
The Nine Hour Movement was an international phenomenon, taking place in Canada between January and June 1872. The movement’s goal was to standardize shorter working days. Though this particular mandate was unsuccessful, the movement did have an impact, including setting the foundation for the Canadian Labor Union.
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Québec Shoe Workers' Strike
The Québec Shoe Workers' Strike, properly a lockout, 27 October-10 December 1900, was the first direct intervention in a labour conflict by Québec Catholic clergy and the first step toward the creation of Catholic unions (see CONFEDERATION OF NATIONAL TRADE UNIONS).
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Vancouver Island Coal Strike
Vancouver Island Coal Strike began on 16 Sept 1912 when miners at Cumberland declared a "holiday" to protest the firing of Oscar Mottishaw. Canadian Collieries, recent purchaser of the Dunsmuir Mines, locked them out and hired Chinese and recruits from Britain and the US as strikebreakers.
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Windsor Ford Strike of 1945
The Windsor Ford Strike was a 99-day strike from 12 September to 19 December 1945 by 11,000 employees of the Windsor, Ontario, Ford Motor Company plant. Some 8,000 auto workers from other plants also participated. The Ford workers, who were led by the United Automobile Workers of Canada (UAW), demanded recognition of their union by Ford and mandatory membership for all plant workers. The strike was ultimately resolved through binding arbitration under Supreme Court Justice Ivan C. Rand and resulted in the widely used Rand Formula.
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Editorial
Winnipeg General Strike: Canada's Most Influential Strike
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated. An eerie calm descended on the streets of Winnipeg on the morning of May 15, 1919. The street cars and delivery wagons lay idle. Some 50,000 tradesmen, labourers, city and provincial employees had walked off the job, leaving the city paralyzed. It was North America's first general strike.
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