August 22, 1950 saw the first nationwide railway strike hit Canada with 124,000 non-operating employees padlocking doors, banking fires and gridlocking the railways that tied the country.
The railway strike started at 6 a.m. MST on Aug. 22 and lasted nine days as workers from 17 unions demanded a pay increase and a work week reduction of 49 to 40 hours.
Locally, 250 Canadian Pacific Railway employees were involved in the strike action, with another 450 “railroaders” in non-operating roles also left idle due to the shutdown. Several Medicine Hat railway crews were stranded in Moose Jaw and Calgary due to the shutdown, eventually brought back by bus.
The News is looking back at notable events from Medicine Hat’s history leading up to the celebration of our 140th publishing year later this fall.
The strike ended early in the evening o Aug. 30 after Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent called Parliament into an emergency session on Aug. 28. Debate began and Members of Parliament rushed back to Ottawa, not via train. The bill was given Royal Assent, becoming law at 9:56 p.m. EST and called for a return to work within 48 hours with an interim wage increase of four cents per hour, an appointment of an arbitrator if no solution was reached in 15 days and a government guarantee no employee would be fired for going on strike.
The strike was estimated to have cost $40 million based on financial reports issued by CNR and CPR. The actual revenue lost during the strike was estimated at roughly $1,000,000 for CPR and $1,200,000 for the CNR each day of the strike, a total of $21,000,000. A loss of wages to striking railway workers was estimated at $12,000,000 for workers of both companies.
