In the Canadian labour movement's long and continuing history of struggles to establish its trade-union rights, no episode was more spectacular, explosive or meaningful than the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. General strikes by definition involve working-class confrontations with authority and produce a massive disruption of society while paralysing economic life. They are "cataclysmic events [and] by their nature, unlikely to be created in a day."1 The Winnipeg General Strike had many roots, including class polarization, working conditions and socialist ideas. The labour relations conf...

• Word Count: 1993
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate