Winnipeg general strike

June 21, 1919. Thousands gathered at Market Square for what was intended to be a silent parade protesting the arrest of strike leaders. The day, however, was far from silent; instead, chaos reigned. In the midst of the gathered crowd, a streetcar, operated by strikebreakers, approached. This streetcar – a moving emblem of defiance against the strike and what it stood for, became the target of the strikers’ grievances. The strikers rushed the streetcar, attempting to overturn it, and set it ablaze. The riot act was read; the Mounties charged; shots were fired; and the silence of the parade rapidly escalated into what became known as Bloody Saturday. Scenes from the Winnipeg General Strike. Pathé News No. 57 : [excerpt]. Source: Library and Archives Canada/Astral Bellevue Pathe fonds/ISN 220304. This event has become the most iconic scene of one of the most significant events in Winnipeg’s history and the most famous strike in Canada’s. Yet, despite this notoriety, the full story of the Winnipeg General Strike is somewhat less clear. The true order of events and how they unfolded on that day were lost in the chaos and the biases of those who described it. As a socially and politically charged conflict, the documentary heritage through which we remember the strike is rife with subjectivities, misrepresentations, and propaganda. Before, during, and after the events of June 21, the strike involved numerous players, converging in different places and spaces throughout Winnipeg, all with their own motives, sympathies, and biases, resulting in conflicting narratives and accounts of events. Unbreakable: The Spirit of the Strike places the events of Bloody Saturday in this greater context and examines the rich history surrounding the Winnipeg General Strike, its catalysts, and its aftermath.