British Columbia From Hotel Halls to City Hall: A Union’s Disputed Tactics

This month in labour history

1-07-1935 In Regina, Saskatchewan, a rally in support of the On-to-Ottawa Trek of unemployed workers is attacked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Two men are killed and 100 injured. The Dominion Day riot contributes to the defeat of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett. [more]

1-07-1923 Provincial police charge crowds at the steel plant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where workers are on strike for union recognition. In the 1930s, memories of Bloody Sunday help lead to a new law to support collective bargaining. [more]

2-07-2008 After 14 months of a bitter labour dispute, the employees of the Journal de Québec accept an agreement in principle concluded between their union and their employer. [more]

3-07-1979 Longshoremen in Saint John, New Brunswick refuse to load heavy water for the military dictatorship in Argentina. The celebrated No Candu/Hot Cargo protest brings attention to the abuse of human rights and secures the release of several political prisoners. [more]

7-07-1983 British Columbia introduces 26 bills to cut public services and limit union rights. Operation Solidarity launches a province-wide mobilization, supported by a wider Solidarity Coalition. This takes the province to the verge of a general strike. [more]

8-07-1900 First Nations, European and Japanese Canadian fishers on the Fraser River win a strike for a standard seasonal rate for their catch. It is the start of unionism in the British Columbia fishery, but a year later ethnic divisions lead to defeat. [more]

9-07-1793 Black petitioners and abolitionist allies succeed in gaining a law to limit slavery in Upper Canada. The importation of additional slaves is prohibited, and the children of slaves are to be freed at 25 years of age. [more]

11-07-1962 The road to universal health care reaches a turning point when Saskatchewan doctors fail to win public support for their strike against the implementation of medicare. Saskatchewan goes on to set the model for the rest of the country. [more]

13-07-2009 Steelworkers at Vale-Inco in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario, begin a year-long strike against so-called pension reforms and other concessions. [more]

14-07-1946 In Hamilton, Ontario, steelworkers take on the country's biggest steel producer in a crucial strike for union recognition. With strong community support, they hold the line for almost three months to win an historic victory. [more]

14-07-1918 Birth of Grace Hartman, the first woman to lead a major national union in North America. She is elected president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1975. [more]

18-07-1966 At more than 130 Québec hospitals workers belonging to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux strike for union rights and improved conditions. The province forces them back to work, and later requires hospitals to accept a province-wide union contract. [more]

19-07-1983 Kamloops members of the British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union begin a three-week occupation of the Tranquille Institution, after learning that the provincial government planned to close it. [more]

22-07-1977 In Montréal, private security guards open fire on demonstrators at the Robin Hood flour mill, where strikebreakers are continuing operations. Eight protestors are wounded. The event speeds up the enactment of an anti-scab law in Québec. [more]

23-07-1914 In Saint John, New Brunswick, thousands of people support striking street railway workers, throwing stones at scab drivers and overturning trams when the Royal Canadian Dragoons charge the crowd. Order is restored when the company recognizes the union. [more]

23-07-1965 Postal workers across the country begin a wildcat strike that leads to full union recognition and collective bargaining rights in the postal service. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers soon emerges as one of the most militant public sector unions. [more]

24-07-1941 Thousands of workers in Arvida, Québec go on an illegal wartime strike and occupy the Alcan aluminium plant. The federal government claims sabotage and sends troops. Work resumes while a settlement is negotiated. [more]

25-07-1917 An early morning explosion at No. 12 colliery in New Waterford, Nova Scotia kills 65 men and boys in the worst single disaster in the Cape Breton coal mines. A grand jury later approves criminal charges against officials, but there are no convictions. [more]

27-07-1918 Ginger Goodwin, a union organizer and socialist, is shot and killed by a special constable in the woods near Cumberland, British Columbia. In Vancouver his shooting leads to the province's first one-day general strike. [more]

28-07-1932 Three young boys die in an abandoned coal mine in Minto, New Brunswick. Two of the coal miners who come to their rescue also perish. The tragic event leads to the province's first mine safety legislation. [more]

31-07-1961 The founding convention of the New Party, soon to be the New Democratic Party, opens in Ottawa. Strongly supported by the Canadian Labour Congress, it replaces the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas is chosen as leader. [more]