Industrialism and Workers in Canada

1. Industrialism and Workers in Canada Chapter 13

2. A Radical Shift in Production • The industrial Revolution began in Canada shortly after Confederation • By mid-century, many business owners were gathering large groups of workers together in one location • Work became regimented and specialized • Manufacturing, trade and commerce replaced fish, fur, timber and wheat as key industries • Improved balance of trade due to increased prices for manufactured goods

3. The Ugly Side of Industrialization • Timothy Eaton closed his stores at 8:00pm and gave Saturday afternoons off in July and August which he argued made him a true friend of the worker • The Report of the Royal Commission on Labour and Capital of 1889 demonstrated widespread abuse by the owners who demanded “a large percentage of work with the smallest possible outlay of wages”

5. The Plight of Farmers • The family farm was changing • Mechanization of the farm began before Confederation • Mechanization was expensive, so it was slow to come to rural areas • More than half of Canadian made their living from farming • Farmers were prisoners to circumstance and fluctuating prices • The banks were owed much money due to mechanization= foreclosures

6. The Rise of Labour • 1833 British Combination Act made discussions of the plight of workers a “conspiracy” • 1872 Unions were legalized and peaceful strikers would not be arrested • Macdonald was lukewarm to the plight of workers beyond the act

7. Unions • The first unions were small and organized around skilled trades • Improve working lives and reduce the impact of technological unemployment • Faced intimidation, blacklisting, harassment and arrest especially when they tried to unionize semi-skilled and unskilled workers

8. The Canadian Labour Union • A Depression began in 1873 that sidetracked the workers’ movement • The Canadian Labour Union was formed as was a political arm from 31 craft unions all from Ontario • Immigration and the depression caused infighting and the demise of the union within the decade

9. The Knights of Labour • 1880s the U.S. based Knights of Labour tried to organize all workers into one big union • Made inroads in Toronto and Hamilton • 20 000 members in 100 locations • Wave of strikes in the 1880s met with opposition from owners, government and the public

10. KOL cont’d • KOL members were branded anarchists who wanted to topple the government and form a classless society • KOL had mixed success in Quebec • KOL had success in railway towns of Winnipeg and Calgary, but not elsewhere out West • Out East, workers rallied behind The Provincial Workingman’s Association which was successful in membership and improving working conditions

11. Trades and Labour Congress • Craft workers formed the Trades and Labour Congress in 1886 • Excluded unskilled workers whom they thought weakened the movement • Division between skilled and unskilled lasted for decades • By the turn of the century only 10% of industrial workers were unionized

13. The International Workers of the World • Common labourers, especially Navvies- men who worked in construction camps- faced the worst conditions and received little help from unions • Horrible conditions in labour camps • IWW from the U.S. came north to organize the labourers • IWW focused on the strike to improve conditions • Railway construction workers from western Canada and Northern Ontario followed the “Wobblies”

14. Progress? • The Factory Act of1884 prohibited boys under 12 and girls under 14 from working, but was poorly enforced • Labour day became a stat holiday in 1894 • 1900 the Department of Labour was created in gov’t • 1889 Report of the Royal Commission on Relations of Labour and Capital was a condemnation of the abuses of the industrial system

15. The Labour Movement on the Farm • The Dominion Grange grew rapidly in rural Ontario and Manitoba • Co-operative action among farmers to own and operate their economic concerns • Grangers set up trust companies, fire insurance, wholesale supply, storage and farmers’ elevators • Shared expensive equipment • By the late 1880s internal divisions caused it to lose support and their policies were co-opted by mainstream political parties

16. Patrons of Industry • Grew out of Sarnia in 1889 • Successful in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba • Lobbied for lower freight rates, land distribution reform, reduced tariffs and an end to railway monopolies • In Ontario it became a political party that won 17 seats • Patrons declined after a labour and farm alliance fell apart

17. Populism • Improved the lives of Canadian farmers • Organization was the key to improving their lives • Populist is an umbrella term that covered different ethnic, regional and political groups • Organize, lobby governments and publicize their views

18. Success • The Crowsnest Pass agreement reduced freight rates • Banks became more accommodating to farmers • The co-operative movement made farmers more independent

19. The Coming of Urbanism • 1871 1/6 lived in town or city • 1900 1/3 lived in town or city • The cities were growing in population especially in the West • Jobs in industry attracted people to the cities • Schools, goods and services were better and more plentiful in cities as well

20. Urban Growth • Transportation (railway stops) • Land speculation (artificially created land booms) • Immigrant “Reception line” (hosts for friends and families too poor to go west) • Suburbanization began in 1800s

21. Urban Poverty • Number of people living in poverty tripled from the mid-century • Half of all urban working class lived below or at the poverty line • No urban planning or zoning • Land prices rose making people boarders or renters • Railways divided cities (wrong side of the tracks)

22. Cities • Tiny minority had brick houses and servants • Most of the city was slums • Tenement housing • Families of 6 or more to a room • No running water, sewage or garbage collection

24. Cities cont’d • Crime was rampant • Police, ambulance and fire were ineffective • Public health and sanitation was primitive • Air quality was minimal • Epidemics were common

25. The Reform Movement • Read pp 313- 316 and Define: • Humanitarian • Social Gospel • Muckrakers • Suffragists