On May 15, 1919, women who operated telephones kick-started the Winnipeg General Strike by refusing to go to work. The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti spoke with Sid Ryan, former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour and CUPE Ontario, about today's labour movement and what we can learn from the Winnipeg General Strike. How important is the legacy of that Winnipeg General Strike for workers' rights in Canada? So, basically all of the rights that we enjoy today in the labour movement can be traced back to the Winnipeg strike and similar types of strikes across Canada. The second thing I would say is … the labour movement has not yet figured out how [to] grow the labour movement in the private sector.

Source: CBC News May 15, 2019 18:22 UTC