By ETHEL OSTRY

an art student at Manitoba
y at the time of the General

ents were immigrants from
Russia. To eke out a living for
of nine children, my father
@ eldest brothers joined the
force in the sheet metal trade
candy factory. Of European fam-

ted in Canadian life, joining full-
in its vitality and pioneering

settled in Winnipeg, whose
sidewalks reverberated with
of the tread of men, women

ve productive energy. The street-
here were drawn by horses with a
tinkling down from their col-
‘warn pedestrians. The fare was
nts and on Saturdays the “nickel
Was the greatest of entertain-

bg was a city in the making—
g centre for people from all
world — hunters and trappers
woods and lakes driving into
h their dog teams laden with
farmers coming from miles
with wagons of produce. The

ay stations swarmed with people—
) or carrying his samples of
With an expression of hope that at
ne may have staked a fortune. And
about the city railway machine
sheet metal workers, struc-
s, painters and carpenters.
the worker was vibrant, the
on in production satisfying, and
@ consciousness of the power
working class. To provide for
milies, however, workers had to
g hours, for which they received
ince in wages. Workers felt
to accept their inferior status
to meet the bare essentials for
les. The wages of a factory
Were about $10 a week. Car-
ned 60 cents an hour, sheet
ters less, painters and decor-
ill less.

hing boy’s earnings are esti-
having been, in the period be-
19, $1.50 a week! The most
vileged were women and girl
in the department stores, laun-
hent factories, candy kitchens
s. They never had more than
Margin between the pay enve-
G starvation. In _ restaurants,
ng nine hours a day received
“‘month—no, not per week, but
nth! Of that $15 the girls paid
Week for laundry and 50 cents
the busboy. This left them
per month for rent, clothes,
and meals.

nly were wages low, but living
fd risen rapidly. It was esti-
that for a family of five (three
for food, clothing and shelter
Minimum income required
50 per month. Wages could
ly meet these minimum stan-
}Maintain health and morale.
Wages, deplorable housing con-
d the wretchedness of unem-
nt brought hunger and sickness
of the people, especially the

ground, I was nevertheless fully.

m absorbed in the spirit of .

IN RETROSPECT

Reflections of a University
of Manitoba student
on the 1919 General Strike

children. A nurse, working at the Win-
nipeg hospital, describes the situation
in those times this way: “Children
were brought by their gaunt mothers
to the hospital for treatment. The dis-
eases they were suffering from were
chiefly due to starvation. After they
had been properly fed for a few weeks
they were sent back to their poverty-
stricken homes as ‘cured’.”

Bitter resentment spread like wildfire
among the workers, and their families
were seized with a sense of utter futil-
ity. Their plight was intensified as more
and more men and women became un-
employed. In the North End’s hostels
for unemployed men, the middle of the
day with the sun shining outside would

The Building Trade Council was asking
‘a 20 cents per hour increase. Since 1914,
p cost of living had risen 80 percent, wages
ased in the trade only is

percent.

find dozens of men sitting smoking or
squatting on their beds listlessly gazing
at bare walls. At least they were free
from being moved about by the police
outdoors,

Family life under appalling housing
conditions was beginning to: present
serious problems of health and sanita-
tion. The stability of the home was
being threatened more and more. The
feeling of grievance was further inten-
sified by the ostentatious display of
wealth and extravagance by the rich
whom the workers recognized as their
exploiters.

To all this general discontent was
added the disappointment of the return-
ed World War I soldiers, many of
whom were still in barracks awaiting
demobilization. They found on return-
ing to their country, which they had
served, conditions of unemployment.
Pressure by veterans’ organizations
upon the Canadian government to make
good on promises were vulgarly re-
pelled and a bleak future before them
stirred up resentment and an urge to
express this militantly.

Little wonder, therefore, that the
working class (later joined by the ex-
servicemen) sought means for correc-
tion of their grievances in strike action.
The concept of the strike originally was
intended as a peaceful protest by the
long-suffering workers against low
wages and the obstinate rejection by
the employers of demands for collective

_ bargaining rights. So united were the

workers in the belief their demands
were just that in less than two hours
after 11 a.m. on May 15 when the strike
was called, the whole productive indus-
try in Winnipeg was tied up as men,
women, boys and girls came trooping
out of shop, store and factory.
However, what at first seemed to be
a wage and collective bargaining rights
question turned out to be a nation-
wide class-against-class issue. While

the Strike Committee was organizing
and directing the workers, a Commit-
tee of 1,000, or, more popularly, a com-
mittee called the Citizens’ Committee,
was formed. It progressed from com-
paratively mild measures at first to
drastic efforts to suppress the strike in
the last stages.

A few of the violent and brutal
events against the strikers that I re-
call were Mayor Gray’s reading of the
Riot Act, the fight in “Hell’s Alley,” a
spot between Market and James Streets
where about 200 citizens had taken
refuge and were attacked by police
with batons and revolvers. The crowd
could only retaliate with sticks and
bricks.

It was the intervention of the Do-
minion government which eventually
smashed the strike using the military
and police force. The Manitoba Royal
Commission under H. A. Robinson,
K.C., chairman, appointed to investi-
gate the causes and conduct of the
strike, concluded in sympathy with
labor when he wrote: “If capital does
not enough to assure labor a contented
existence, with full employment of the
opportunities of the time for human
improvement, then government might
find it necessary (to step) in and let

the state do these things at the ex-
pense of capital.”

The Western labor movement con-
tinued with its tradition of martyrdom
—in political pressure, and participa-
tion in labor government for legisla-
tive reforms in the interests of the
masses of the people. The Labor Church
played a significant role through such
outstanding strike leaders as Rev, A. E.
Smith, Rev. William Ivens (editor of
the strike bulletin) and J. S. Woods-
worth,

The sympathy of the Labor Church
for the masses of. workers may be
summed up in the Labor Hymn sung in
many of their churches:

“When wilt thou save the people, Lord,
.O God of mercy, when?

.The people, Lord, the people,

Not crowns and thorns, but men.”

The strikers, though they knew it
meant sacrifices, chose the path of
struggle to gain their rights as workers
and citizens. Theirs was a passion for
justice and freedom, which became a
national passion and today is universal.

It is a passion which is now in progress
everywhere, and which will not be
stopped until injustice has been over-
thrown the world over.

PHOTO—F. M. GEE PHOTOS

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 25, 1969—Page-11