Winnipeg General Strike is one of the big events in Canadian history. As long as the strike lasted it was the front page of all newspaper in Canada. It was the one of the building steps to workers’ rights. Actually the strike was building up for many years and many events contributed to the strike which ranged from local to international. While manufacturing workers became wealthy, the employees were being paid less and were not being treated very fairly. Soldiers were returning from war expecting to be received as heroes but they found nothing but unemployment. 

The cost of food and other daily needs were increasing. Many people couldn’t satisfy their needs. One of the major events that lead up to the strike was when the metal workers of Valcan Iron Works Manitoba Bridge and Iron and the Dominion Bridge and Iron went on strike. Even the building workers went on strike the same. This event took place on May 1, 1919. Both of the unions took their cases to the Traders and Winnipeg Labour Council (WTLC). The WTLC decided on a ballot for a sympathic strike May 6 in which 112 trade unionists went in favour while 524 were against.