Tell the Senate: Hands off workers’ rights

This month in labour history

1-06-1987 In British Columbia, 250,000 workers walk off the job in a one-day general strike against restrictive labour laws introduced by the Social Credit government. The legislation is repealed when the New Democratic Party returns to power in 1992. [more]

1-06-1986 In Edmonton, Alberta meatpacking workers go on strike against wage and pension rollbacks. One of their slogans is "Gainers makes wieners 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 in 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. This is the beginning of the Federation’s long struggle for workers’ rights in Alberta. [more]

14-06-1872 Royal assent is given the Trade Union Act, legislation promised by the prime minister in April in response to large public protests against the arrest of striking Toronto printers on conspiracy charges. The Act states that unions are legal in Canada. [more]

15-06-2025 Union members mourn the death of Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers in 1992-98. Born in rural New Brunswick, he went “down the road” to the Chrysler assembly line in Windsor, Ontario and became a strong believer in social unionism. [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]

19-06-1914 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]

19-06-1938 On Bloody Sunday in Vancouver, British Columbia, hundreds of unemployed workers are violently evicted from government buildings, including the post office and art gallery, after weeks of sit-ins to protest cutbacks in relief projects. [more]

20-06-1984 An earthquake kills four workers at the Falconbridge mine near Sudbury, Ontario. The day is remembered in an annual union memorial service and with calls for renewed attention to health, safety and emergency preparedness. [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]

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 city’s special police. Many are wounded on Bloody Saturday, and two men lose their lives. The strike soon ends. [more]

25-06-1999 The Fédération des Infirmières du Québec begins an illegal one-day provincial strike, one of several this summer and one of many across the country during the year over nurses’ workload and wages. [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]

29-06-1981 The Canadian Union of Postal Workers begins a 42-day strike that succeeds in winning a contract with 17 weeks of maternity leave benefits. This breakthrough agreement sets a standard for other unions. [more]