1-06-1986 In Edmonton, Alberta meatpacking workers go on strike against wage and pension rollbacks. One of their slogans is "Gainers makes weiners with scabs". There are more than 400 arrests before an agreement is reached in December. [more]

3-06-1935 Hundreds of unemployed men board boxcars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning the historic On-to-Ottawa Trek to protest conditions in the relief camps run by the Department of National Defence. [more]

8-06-2007 The Supreme Court of Canada rules, in a 6 to 1 decision, that collective bargaining rights are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision describes collective bargaining rights as "a fundamental aspect of Canadian society." [more]

11-06-1925 Today is Davis Day in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, a memorial day for coal miner William Davis, who was shot and killed by company police during the struggle for control of the Waterford Lake power plant during the historic 1925 strike. [more]

12-06-1934 Immigrant workers go on strike at the Noranda copper and gold mining operations in Québec, led by the Workers' Unity League. Strikebreakers are brought in, and there is no union contract until 1945. [more]

14-06-1912 Union leaders meet at the Lethbridge Labour Temple to establish the Alberta Federation of Labour and encourage solidarity among the province's workers. The meeting is chaired by Donald McNabb, the province's first labour member of the legislature. [more]

15-06-1872 The Trade Union Act comes into force. This is the legislation promised by the prime minister in April in response to the campaign for shorter hours and the arrest of striking Toronto printers. The Act states that unions are legal in Canada. [more]

17-06-1958 In Vancouver, British Columbia the Second Narrows Bridge collapses while under construction, and nineteen lives are lost. It is the city's worst industrial disaster. The bridge is now known as the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. [more]

18-06-1935 Longshoremen in Vancouver, many of them war veterans, march to protest the use of scabs to unload cargo on the docks. In a three-hour battle, police chase the strikers down on horseback and use tear gas to disperse the protest. [more]

19-06-1938 Relief Project Workers' Union members occupying government buildings in Vancouver are evicted by police. A battle follows. [more]

19-06-1914 A coal mine explosion in the Crowsnest Pass at Hillcrest, Alberta takes the lives of 189 men, mostly immigrants. Canada's worst coal mine disaster leaves 90 widows and more than 250 orphans. [more]

20-06-1959 A sudden violent storm on Miramichi Bay, New Brunswick sweeps away 35 men and boys. The Escuminac Disaster is commemorated at the local wharf by The Fishermen, a monument created by Acadian artist Claude Roussel. [more]

20-06-1984 An earthquake kills four workers at the Falconbridge mine near Sudbury Ontario. [more]

21-06-1919 A silent parade to protest the arrest of leaders of the Winnipeg General Strike is attacked by the Royal Northwest Mounted Police and the special police hired by the city. Two men lose their lives on Bloody Saturday, and the strike ends five days later. [more]

27-06-1991 The Supreme Court of Canada issues its decision in Lavigne v Ontario Public Service Employees Union, affirming the constitutional right of unions to spend money on social and political action to advance the interests of workers. [more]