An exploration of the impact the media had on the most influential
strike in Canadian history. A strike gripped Winnipeg from May 15 to
June 26, 1919. Some twenty-five thousand workers walked out, demanding
better wages and union recognition. Red-fearing opponents insisted
labour radicals were attempting to usurp constitutional authority and
replace it with Bolshevism. Newspapers like the Manitoba Free Press
claimed themselves political victims and warned of Soviet infiltration.
Supporters of the general sympathetic strike like the Toronto Daily Star
maintained that strikers were not Reds; they were workers fighting for
their fair rights. What was really happening in Winnipeg? In an
information age dominated by newspapers and magazines, the public turned
to reporters and editors for answers.