The 1946 Stelco strike changed the face of Hamilton
On July 15, 1946, thousands of Stelco steelworkers walked off the job.
They were pressing for higher wages, a 40-hour work week and a requirement by the company to regularly deduct dues on behalf of their union, the United Steelworkers of America, Local 1005.
The bitter strike lasted for 81 days with replacement workers camped out at the steel company while the strike severely divided the community.
The strike is seen as one of the most significant labour-management battles in Canadian history. It was the vortex of what labour historians at McMaster University describe as working-class revolt in Hamilton that was reminiscent of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.
Union members at Westinghouse, Firestone and The Spectator also took to the streets that year and, by midsummer, nearly 20 per cent of the city's industrial workforce was off the job. Also interesting and unprecedented was the open support offered to the strikers by the Hamilton mayor at the time, Sam Lawrence.
Local 1005 Timeline
- 1936: Established by Steel Workers Organizing Committee.
- 1944: Certified to bargain for members.
- 1946: Strikes for recognition.
- 1958: Another strike.
- 1966: Wildcat (illegal) strike.
- 1969: Legal strike.
- 1981: Union strikes for 125 days and wins wage and benefit hikes totalling 50 per cent over three years. Stelco sales battered by recession just as company takes on huge debt to build Lake Erie Works. Stelco's first-ever financial losses and the start of job cuts.
- 1990: Union strikes, resulting in more job cuts as managers struggle to pay raises while keeping employment costs the same.
- 2004: Stelco enters bankruptcy protection saying it's being killed by the cost of funding pension plans.
- 2006: Stelco leaves bankruptcy protection with new owners: three hedge funds.
- 2007: The hedge funds sell for a hefty profit to U.S. Steel, which promises to maintain production and employment in Canada.
- 2009: Federal government sues U.S. Steel for breaking its production and employment promises. The suit is still working its way through the courts.
- 2010: On Nov. 7, U.S. Steels locks out its remaining Hamilton workers to back company demands for drastic changes in pension plans.
- 2011: In October, lockout ends.
- 2015: In October, the judge overseeing U.S. Steel Canada's restructuring under creditor protection allows the company to stop paying health benefits for retirees. As well, a court order is issued that allows the company to stop making some pension top-up contributions and paying municipal property taxes.
- 2016: Restructuring continues as union officials continue to contest the court decision over retiree benefits.