Winnipeg unveils 1919 General Strike monument near Hell's Alley

A monument commemorating the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike has been unveilednear an area that became known as"Hell's Alley" during the six-week event that saw some 30,000 workers walk off their jobs.

Crafted primarily from weatheringsteel, the monument byMonteyne Architecture Works was selected by a jury as the winner of a City of Winnipeg design competition to honour the labour movement that resulted in Canada's most famous strike.

It echoes the steel structures of the early 20thcentury and is alsoa nod to Winnipeg's Vulcan Iron Works, a Point Douglas landmark, according to a city news release. Around 1919, Vulcan wasone of the city's largest foundries and many of the striking workers came from there.

"I want to congratulate and thank Monteyne Architecture Works for being able to create a very unique and inspiring piece of architecture that all Winnipeggers can appreciate and enjoy,"Point Douglas Coun. Mike Pagtakhan said.

Designed to be accessible to all Winnipeggers, the monument at the corner of Lily Street and Market Avenuealso provides a shortcutto Lily from Rorie Street, and a sheltered place to meet for lunch or before the theatre, the city release says.

It features a map of thesurrounding area, information about the strike, bench seating and a stage area that can double as avenue for events.

"Hell's Alley"

The general strike, which lasted fromMay 15 until June 25, 1919, started as a much smaller conflictbetween the city's building trade and metal shop workers and their employers.

Fighting forthe right to collective bargaining, a living wageand an eight-hour working day,they walked off the job on May 1.

Not getting anywhere in their demands, the strikers made an appeal for solidarity to the Trades and Labour Union, the central union body representing many of Winnipeg's workers.

Theunion agreed, hopingto shut down the city to forcethe strikers' demands to be met. On May 15, 1919, about 30,000workers in the public and private sectors walked off their jobs.

Elevators stopped moving,streetcars and mail delivery were haltedandtelephone communications went silent. Nothing moved without approval by a strike committee.

Sympathy strikes brokeout across the country.

In response, Winnipeg business leaders organized a "citizens' committee" to oppose the strike, and turned to the federal government for help.

It had been only 18 months since a general strike in Petrograd, Russia, led to the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II, and the Canadian government feared a similar revolution at home.

The Royal Northwest Mounted Police were brought in, and Winnipeg MayorCharles Frederick Gray fired most of the city police force, which was sympathetic to the strikers but stayed on the job as an essential service.

Theofficers were replaced with 1,800 special constables, recruited and paid for by the business community. Known as "specials" by the city and "union busters" by the workers, each constable wasset up withhorse and a baseball bat to keep order.

Intense fighting

Thearea surrounding Lily Street and Market Avenue was the site of some of the most intense fighting between the strikers and the police.

A stretch of nearby Elgin Avenue, which once ledto city hall and is now occupied by the Centennial Concert Hall, became known as Hell's Alley for the vicious and bloody clashes.

The worst of those happened on Bloody Saturday, June 21. The RNMP and the special constables rode on horseback, swinging bats and firingrevolvers into a crowd of thousands of workers, killing two and injuringcountlessothers.

The strike endeda few days after that.Seven of the strike leaders were convicted of a conspiracy to overthrow the government and sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to twoyears.

Winnipeg unveils 1919 General Strike monument

7 years ago

Duration 0:40

A monument commemorating the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike has been unveiled at the corner of Lily Street and Market Avenue in the East Exchange District. The area became known as "Hell's Alley" during the six-week event that saw some 30,000 workers walk off their jobs.