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The Toronto Typographical Union goes on strike. At this time unions were a criminal offense, and 24 strikers were jailed. Following backlash from this, Parliament passed the Trade Unions Act, legalizing trade unions. -
The Canada Labor Union tries to establish the first union center, but this falls apart in 1878. -
In 1883 the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, or TLC, was formed. The TLC is a country wide federation of unions. -
In 1889 the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labor and Capital reports a high amount of workplace injuries and condemns the oppressive nature in them. -
In 1894, Labor Day became an official holiday, celebrating the achievements of workers. -
With the passing of the Conciliation Act, the Department of Labor was established with the purpose of assisting workers and employers with the prevention and resolution of labor disputes. -
In British Columbia in 1912, thousands of coal miners went on strike to protest the unsafe conditions present in the mines. It is one of the fiercest strikes in Canadian history, with large riots and deaths. In 1914 they were forced to return to work after a large blacklist.
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In 1914 the Workmen's Compensation Act is adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This was the earliest piece of social insurance that was passed. The bill meant that workers were allowed to give up their right to sue if they were fairy compensated.
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In 1918 Albert Goodwin, a political activist who supported unions and their rights, and had previously called for a general strike was killed. This killing sparked the first general strike in Canada, the 1918 Vancouver general strike. The military was brought in and there was violent interactions between them and civilians. -
In 1919, starting May 15th and lasting 6 weeks, 30,000 people went on strike in Winnipeg. At the time Winnipeg was the third largest city economically in Canada, but this was brought to a standstill by the strike. At the time this didn't have much change, however, it is still important to the development of labor movements in Canada. -
In 1925, a man named Bill Davis was killed by company police at the British Empire Steel and Coal Company during a strike. This just fed further into the labor disputes, to the point that the Canadian military was sent in, with the largest internal peacetime deployment that had happened in 40 years with 2,000 soldiers. -
On November 18th, 1929 two trade unionists went missing, trying to recruit other bushworkers for a large strike. Although it was officially ruled to be death from drowning, it is widely speculated that they were murdered, as they were both experienced bushworkers and the water was only three feet deep. Their funeral in April 1930 was the largest that had ever occurred in Thunder Bay. -
In 1935, there were two strikes that would later be called the On-to-Ottawa Trek, where unemployed men in relief camps all came over to Ottawa to protest the conservative government's response. The government promised to make changes, and when this didn't occur a second strike was organized. This is credited with having a large impact on the fall of popularity of the conservative party. There was a riot in Regina as RCMP tried to prevent strikers from going east towards Ottawa. -
There is a violent protest in 1938 which ended up sparking criticism of police brutality in a time before video. -
In 1940, the Canadian government established unemployment insurance so that those without a job could still afford to survive. -
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In 1971 paid maternity leave is introduced, as a form of unemployment insurance. -
At a company called Inco there was a large strike that lasted for 9 months straight, at the time holding the record for the longest strike in Sudbury. -
Beyond this point the general pattern of strikes become the same, as does the continuing of companies using anti-union behavior, but these are less foundational than the other pieces on this timeline.
