Magnificent Fight: The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike

by Dennis Lewycky

In May 1919, 30,000 Winnipeg workers walked away from their jobs, shutting down large factories, forcing businesses to close and bringing major industries to a halt. Mounted police and hired security, at the behest of the ruling class, violently ended the protest after six weeks. Two men were killed. What started as trade union revolt, the Winnipeg General Strike became a mass protest and was branded a revolution.

In Magnificent Fight, Dennis Lewycky lays out the history of this iconic event, which remains the biggest and longest strike in Canadian history. He analyzes the social, political and economic conditions leading up to the strike. He also illustrates the effects the strike had on workers, unions and all three levels of government in the following decades.

Far from a simple retelling of the General Strike, Magnificent Fight speaks to the power of workers' solidarity and social organization. The book reveals the length the capitalist class and the state went to in protecting the status quo.

207 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2019

Reviews

[Tom Axworthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike was one of the most significant events both in the history of Manitoba and the development of the labour movement across Canada.Thirty five thousand workers seeking fair wages, working conditions and union rights went on strike from May to June 1919 virtually closing down the city and leading to extreme counter reactions by the Winnipeg business community, supported in turn by Arthur Meighen a leading Manitoba Conservative, soon to be Conservative Prime Minister in 1921.The Strike ultimately failed , being called off after the violence on June 21, 1919 ( Bloody Saturday)when the Northwest Mounted Police charged a crowd of pro-strikers killing two and injuring many.The repression continued when the leaders of the Strike were arrested for sedition , found guilty in unfair trials and served time in jail or were deported.But the ideals of the strikers could not be repressed and ,in time ,Canada moved towards fair bargaining and social justice led in initially by many of the strike leaders themselves who were eventually elected to Parliament or provincial Legislatures. This story, from the labour perspective, is told well by Dennis Lewycky though the book would have profited from a better edit as there are repetitions of material.It is particularly strong in outlining the terrible social conditions of workers in Winnipeg 's North End that led to the Strike and which sadly continue to this day.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

It doesn't help that I came to this book after reading the first two books in a masterfully written biography, but even considering that, this is not a good book. There is insufficient focus on any specific issue to really get the reader invested, instead it hops around from subject/group to subject while only glossing over details. Organizations or strikers are introduced and never mentioned again. Organizations that are mentioned again are referenced by acronym, even if it's been 30 pages since you last heard about them.
There is no logical sequence to the book.
I'm very pro labour, and I believe that the Winnipeg General Strike was instrumental in (eventually) effecting change in Canadian legislation, but despite apparently trying to encourage that feeling, this book made me more apt to question that belief than reinforcing it.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the story of the "Winnepeg General Strike of 1919" which is the icon of union strikes from the beginning of the twentieth century. Though the union strikers were able to get the other non-union workers to join them including the Police and Fire Departments, they did not accomplish any of the points they had gone on strike for.

This was the beginning of the Social Democratic movement in Canada and was to late lead to the creation of most of the Social Legislation that was passed by the Province of Manitoba and the Dominion Government in the Twentieth Century.

[Ian MacIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read and heard the stories of the Strike, this book fills in the before and after. It is important. Yes, conditions were grim prior to the Strike and Lewycky explains the situation well. The Strike led to changes, hard fought and lasting. As Lewycky explains the world was changing, the social fabric was changing and politics was changing. The Winnipeg Strike was part of that change.

We still hope and sacrifice. We still fight to maintain and improve working conditions, and seek a living wage. #UnionStrong

[Alyza · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit repetitive and meandering, but is helpful in providing analysis of working-class conditions and sentiments at the time of the Winnipeg General Strike.

However, if you're looking for many stories from the day itself, this is NOT the book for you.

[Donna Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewycky's well-researched walk-through of the 1919 General Winnipeg Strike was a very interesting and enlightening read. As an American, I don't ever recall hearing about the strike in school, or even in college. Books like this one, with its facts and figures supported and "made real" through photographs are important ventures into the past, that will hopefully help change the future. There have been many worker strikes around the world that led to direct social and cultural change, and this one deserves to be remembered. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in labor economics, labor unions, strikes, social history, or cultural revolutions.

Thank you NetGalley and Fernwood Publishing for the opportunity to read this advance reader copy.