WORKING IN CANADA
(1885 - 1914)
- describe key characteristics of Canada between 1885 and 1914, including social and economic conditions, the roles and contributions of various people and groups, internal and external pressures for change, and the political responses to these pressures;
- describe the factors contributing to change in Canadian society (e.g., immigration, technology, politics, globalization);
- describe the social and working conditions of Canadians around the beginning of the twentieth century (e.g., in mining, forestry, factory work; on farms; in cities);
- describe how specific individuals and events helped change the position of women and children in Canada (e.g., Nellie McClung, Emily Carr, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Pauline Johnson; the Temperance Movement, laws establishing compulsory education);
- describe and analyse conflicting points of view about a historical issue (e.g., child labour, the Boer War, the causes of the First World War);
Above excerpted from The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies, Grades 1-6; History and Geography Grades, 7-8, 2004 (e. and o. e.)
Working Conditions in Factories
The industrial Revolution created many new jobs in factories and mills, but working conditions were harsh, tiring, and unsafe. A typical 10-hour day ran from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM, 6 days a week. The hour-hour lunch break was unpaid.
Though conditions were poor, there were always plenty of people to take jobs. With many people looking for work, employers could pay low wages. An average wage for an Industrial worker in the 1870s ranged from $185 per year in Quebec to $245 per year in Ontario. Even though prices were also low, this was less than the average family needed to survive. Many working families needed two incomes.
Working Conditions in the factories were strict, and workers were fined
for breaking any rules. Money was deducted from their wages for
talking at work, working to slowly, sitting down on the job, or making a
mistake. Sometimes workers had little left of their wages at the end
of the week.
During the Industrial Revolution, workers felt that had little control over their lives. Employers could hire and fire employees as they saw fit. Wages could be cut, and workers themselves had no voice in the decision.
Workers had no security or benefits. There was no unemployment insurance for people who lost their jobs. Workers who were hurt in the factory received no compensation. When they got sick, they had no medical plans to pay doctors and hospital bills. No pension plans were available to provide them with an income when they were too old to work. Coffee breaks and paid holidays were unheard of. All these things are fairly recent improvements in working conditions.
Many
Canadian families sent children out to work to help buy food and pay bills
because parents' wages were so low. Even children under the age of
10 were sent out to work. Child workers were frequently mistreated
and sometimes beaten by their bosses for small offences. There were
no laws against treating children this way.
In 1886, the federal government established a commission to look into the situation of workers. The commission heard a great deal about child labour, sometimes from the children themselves.
Here is a testimony from Joseph Larkins, a boy who worked in a biscuit-making factory in Nova Scotia.
As the years passed, the government passed laws to end child labour:
- In Ontario, the Factory Act of 1884 declared that no child under 12 years of age could be employed in a factory. It also said that no child had to work more than 10 hours a day.
- In 1908, the Child Labour Act banned children under 12 from working in stores and children under 14 from working in factories. Slowly but surely, children disappeared from the factory floor.
The federal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier launched policies to attract immigrants to Canada. Newcomers were needed from many places around the world to live on farms in the West, and also to work on the railways and in the mines and lumber camps. The result was that Canada became a more diverse country during the industrial period. By 1912, almost one-fifth of the population was neither French, English nor Aboriginal in origin.
The government did not want to encourage immigrants to come to the cities. Clifford Sifton tried to prevent the arrival of what he called, "labouring men and mechanics." But they came anyway, because employers needed them to fill jobs in the factories and work camps.
One of the larger groups to come to Canada in the first decade of the
twentieth century were the Italians (see left,
archive). During the summers, many of these workers laboured
on railway construction or clearing brush. In the off-season they
settled in the cities. In time, they brought their families from
Italy and created their own neighbourhoods, which became known as Little
Italys. In a city like Toronto, Italian workers found jobs
building street railways and sewers.
More and more workers began to see the value of coming together in unions. Skilled workers of the same trade or craft joined together in craft unions. Shoemakers joined with other shoemakers, carpenters with carpenters, stonecutters with stonecutters. These workers shared the same skills and many of the same problems in their jobs. Unions could speak to employers with one strong voice about the interests and needs of all their members.
Employers, of course, did not want to be told how to run their businesses. They claimed the right to hire and fire workers and to set their wages. Often, employers fired any employee who joined a union. They branded him or her a troublemaker. This was called Blacklisting a worker.
Because workers were frightened of losing their jobs, many would not join unions. However, the union movement grew steadily despite the opposition from employers. By 1872, the printers' union in Toronto was ready to test is strength in its demand for a nine-hour work day.
When the Toronto Printers' Strike took place, it was illegal to join a union in Canada. In 1872, the federal government was forced to act. Under, pressure, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald passed a law that legalized unions. The charges against the striking printers were dropped. From this time on, strikes spread rapidly as other workers also protested the conditions under which they had to work and live.
The Toronto Printers' Strike strengthened the bonds among various groups of workers. Workers were realizing that if they stood together, they could demand greater changes from employers and the government.
Like industrial workers, farmers were also demanding change. One problem farmers faced was high prices to ship their grain. A farmer's profit could sometimes be wiped out simply by the shipping costs. Another problem was the high cost of storing grain. Grain elevator companies bought wheat at low prices and sold it when world prices were high. Again, farmers lost on profits.
In 1901, western farmers formed a powerful new organization called the
Territorial Grain Growers Association. The association
demanded lower freight rates and even built its own grain elevators.
It stored grain for farmers far more cheaply than the private companies.
The Grain Growers Association fought for social reforms as well. It demanded better schools, better roads for transporting grain, and better medical care in rural communities. It also strongly supported prairie women in their struggle to gain the vote.
As industry and manufacturing increased in Canada, so did the need for people to take jobs in offices and factories. This increased demand for labour opened up new opportunities for women to work outside the home. New inventions, such as the typewriter and the telephone, created jobs almost entirely filled by women. They took the jobs gladly to help support themselves and their families.
Women had to work in the same harsh conditions in the factories as men. However, they generally received less money for doing the same work. Here is what one woman, Ellen McLean, told a government commissioner about conditions in the New Brunswick cotton mill where she worked.
Some women did not work in factories. They worked at home or in shops. Women used their own sewing machines to turn out skirts, blouses, suits, and topcoats for large clothing manufacturers. The manufacturer provided the material, but the women had to provide their own thread, sew up the garments, and deliver the finished product to the factory. They received a few cents for each garment they made.
This system allowed women to stay in their own homes with their families. However, it paid so poorly that they had to work from sunrise until late at night. They worked in dark attic rooms in conditions as bad as those in the factories. These places earned the name sweatshops. The term sweating suggests conditions in which a maximum amount of work is performed for a minimum wage. Ordinary rules of health and comfort were not followed.
In 1897, reporters from the Toronto Daily Mail and Empire newspaper visited some sweatshops. The newspaper described the conditions here:
"The next shop entered was one in which a man, his wife, two children, and a hired woman were busily engaged making button-holes in cloaks and overcoats. For the large button-holes they were receiving a dollar a hundred, or 1 cent each; for the others they got 50 cents, 60 cents, and 75 cents a hundred, according to size. They had to furnish [provide] the thread and silk themselves.
The woman was was working said that she received only $1.50 a week, and out of this she paid 75 cents a week for a room. She was entirely dependent upon herself, and had been forced to take this wage rather than starve to death. When asked how she could possible live on 75 cents a week, she replied that it would not be long before she would have to give up altogether. The hours were long, from eight in the morning until six every night; incessant work...and she scarcely had enough to eat."
Source: The Daily Mail and Empire (1897).
The above is excerpted from Cruxton, 2008 (e. and o. e.)
One of the major problems many workers faced from 1867 to 1920 was safety on the work site. Whether they worked in the resource-based industries such as farming, fishing, forestry, and mining or in the fast-growing manufacturing industries, the dangers were great. There were few regulations to protect workers, and few inspectors to enforce any regulations that did exist.
Workers in the forestry industry were in constant danger from falling
trees and sharp cutting tools. Once of the machines used in
British Columbia to remove trees from the hill slopes was called the
"widow maker". In the Ottawa Valley and along the rivers of the
Maritimes, the greatest danger for workers in the lumber industry came
when they had to break up
log jams that developed as they floated the logs to mills or
gathering areas. (Check
here for a great video)
Coal
mining was particularly dangerous. Some kinds of coal release
gases that can easily catch fire. An underground coal gas
explosion at Springhill, Nova Scotia, in 1891 killed 125 miners.
Some miners were killed by the blast; others were poisoned by the toxic
gases. A ventilation shaft linked two stopes, or working levels,
in the mine, so the gases entered both stopes. These kinds of
tragedies led to gradual improvements in safety.
Factories were no safer. Workers had no head or eye protection. Amendments to the Factories Act in 1904 specified that safety guards must be added to all dangerous equipment, but the penalties were too weak to make employers act. Most factories had poor ventilation and were dirty. Workers inhaled toxic chemicals in fumes and dust. Highly contagious diseases such as small pox and cholera spread rapidly in these environments.
Living Conditions Away from Home
In the resource-based industries workers often had to live in isolated
areas for large parts of the year. Their living quarters were
supplied by the employers and were usually
squalid
and cramped. Workers in the forests in the winter lived in crude
wooden cabins, called shanties, during cutting season. The shanty
was home to between 30 and 135 workers. The dimensions were
approximately 11 m by 12 m.
The cook was in charge of the shanty, keeping the fire going and cooking the food in a large fireplace. The fire was never allowed to go out as it provided warmth, light, and the heat for drying clothes. Meals of slt pork, tea, beans and molasses, and bread were served at 5:00 am, 12 noon (often a cold meal eaten at the work site), and 6:00 pm.
In late March some of the workers left the shanties to return to their farms. They used their pay of up to $1.00 a day to buy supplies needed on their farms. Others stayed until it was time to drive the logs downstream.
Here is a report from Alexander McGillvray, from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, described to the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital in 1887 of what it was like to live in a company town.
Company towns were most often built by mine owners, as mines were usually located some distance from existing towns and cities. These towns provided houses, schools, stores, and services for the workers and their families. The owners rented homes to the workers. They also owned the stores and they could set the prices for all the goods. Miners and their families were often deeply in debt to the owners.
In 1914 the federal Department of Labour decided that a family of five needed to spend at least $14.59 per week on food, fuel, light , and housing. This was difficult even for skilled workers to earn. Highly skilled iron moulders in Hamilton, for instance, earned $19.25 for a 55-hour week. Many unskilled workers could not earn enough to maintain a family at the minimum standard. Labourers in manufacturing industries in Ontario averaged $12.21 per week. Women cotton spinners averaged $7.40 per week. Even skilled workers could not save enough money to get through a period of illness or unemployment. There was no government health plan. Unemployment insurance was not put in place until 1942.
| Wages in Selected Industries, 1914 | |
| Occupation | Wage per hour |
| Iron Moulder (Hamilton) | 35 cents |
| Iron Moulder (Toronto) | 29 cents |
| Machinist (Hamilton) | 32 cents |
| Labourer (Average for Ontario) | 21 cents |
| Cotton Spinners (women) | 13 cents |
The federal government became concerned about the number of children working for wages in the 1880s. In 1886 out of 43 511 workers in Canada's mills and factories there were 104 boys and 69 girls under the age of 10, 1263 boys and 823 girls between ages 10 and 14. Many of these children had no choice but to work long hours in unsafe conditions. In 1892 Ontario passed the Truancy and Compulsory School Attendance Act, requiring all children aged 14 and under to go to school.
These are the rules posted for a cigar factory that employed mainly women.
- Ten hours make up a day's work
- From April 1 to September 30, all employees working by the week must be to work at 7:00 am and 1:00 pm. Doors kept open 15 minutes later for piece work employees.
- No one is allowed to stop work during working hours
- All employees to be search before leaving the factory
- Loud or profane talking strictly prohibited.
- All employees wasting or dropping tobacco on the floor will be fined for each offence.
- No tobacco to be left on the tables after work.
- Anyone breaking these rules will be subject to a fine.
- Hair combing not allowed in the factory
- No one allowed to leave the department
Winnipeg in 1919 was the largest and busiest city in Canada's West. On May 1, 1919, 2000 building and metal workers, members of the Metals Trades Council, went on strike. The workers wanted higher wages (85 cents an hour), shorter hours (44 hours a week instead of 60), and recognition as a Union. The employers refused to negotiate with the strikers.
The workers appealed to the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council, which spoke for unions in the city. The Council asked all the city's union members if they would strike in sympathy with the metal workers on May 15. A vote was held: 11 000 voted for the strike; 600 voted against.
The workers formed a Central Strike Committee of their leaders to
co-ordinate actions. At 11 am on May 15, streetcars returned to
the barns, and rail workers left their jobs. Within an hour
telegraphers, telephone operators, and postal workers had left their
posts. The trains continued to operate, but there were no
express, freight or baggage services. Newspapers were not
published, and there were no milk or bread deliveries. The 12000
Strikers were joined by as many as 23 000 other workers.
Essential services, such as light and water, were not affected by the
stoppage and city police responded to the request of the Strike
Committee and remained on duty to protect property.
Employers organized the Citizens'
Committee of 1000 to act against the strikers. The leaders
wanted to make sure that essential services were provided for the
city. When the Strike Committee allowed bread and milk to be
delivered in the city, the Citizens' Committee accused the strikers of
trying to take over the government. They predicted that the
general strike would lead to a
Communist
revolution in Canada. They urged the Canadian government to step
in. Because they knew that the police favoured the strikers,
they persuaded the city to fire the entire force and its chief.
Untrained volunteers and hired substitutes replaced them at much
higher rates of pay than the regular force received.
After about a month some Winnipeg strikers were ready to go back to work. They could not afford to lose any more wages. It might have ended peacefully, but at this point the Canadian Government stepped in. The Citizens' Committee had been pressuring the government to act to end the strike. In response the government brought in extra members of the Royal North West Mounted Police. All public marches were banned by the mayor.
On June 17 strike leaders were dragged from their beds at gunpoint and taken to Stony Mountain Penitentiary. Workers across the country were outraged. What laws had these people broken? On June 21 events came to a head when a group of soldiers, newly returned from World War I, decided that, despite the Mayor's order, they would hold a protest march. They led the strikers down Main Street in Winnipeg. They were met by the Mounties swinging clubs and firing pistols. Two people died in the riot that followed. The volunteer police patrolled the streets armed with machine guns. The protesters were subdued, but "Bloody Saturday", as the day was called, remained fresh in workers' minds across Canada and they became more determined than ever to obtain their rights.
A week later the Central Strike Committee called off the strike. Seven members were convicted of conspiracy for plotting against the government and sentences to prison for up to two years. Five were never brought to trial, and three were acquitted. One of the men arrested for publishing editorials supporting the strikers was J. S. Woodsworth, who went on to be a member of Parliament for the next 21 years. Three of the jailed men were elected to the Manitoba Legislature while they were in prison.
- Many strikers and their families were deeply in debt because of lost wages
- To get their jobs back many strikers had to sign contracts that did not allow them to belong to unions
- Many strikers no longer had jobs. Employers would not rehire them because they were considered to be trouble makers
- The Government of Canada passed special legislation in July 1919 that allowed protesters suspected of violence to be searched, have their property seized, and face possible imprisonment. This law continued until 1936.
The government set up another Royal Commission to investigate the strike. The findings of the report supported the workers. It found that the strike was not an attempt to revolt as city officials tried to claim, but instead was a reaction to the differences in profits and living conditions between the working class and the owners who controlled the industries.
The above is excerpted from Deir, 2000 (e. and o. e.)