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1946 Strike

Union Community

The massive community support from Brightsiders helped get strikers and their allies through the long, hot days and nights of this workers’ struggle.  

Aerial photo of Stelco and Brightside showing key areas during the strike.
Brightside was on the front lines of the strike effort, with a picket line at its Manchester Gate, and the patrolling of the long fence along Birmingham Street to prevent scabs from going in or out of the plant. (Source: A.H. Wingfield, ed., <em>The Hamilton Centennial</em>, 1846-1946, p. 33; Annotations by Simon Orpana)
Crowd prevents a truck from entering Stelco 1946.
Picketers and their supporters prevent a truck from entering Stelco at the NW corner of Burlington and Wilcox Streets. (Source: <em>Toronto Star</em>, 23 August 1946; Courtesy of <em>Brightside Memories</em> FaceBook page)
Food vouchers are distributed at the strike headquarters as part of the effort of organizing thousands of striking workers (Source: United Steelworkers of America. Local 1005 McClure Fonds; Courtesy of William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University)
'We Support the Striking Steel Workers' sign near woman cooking food for picketers.
This photo of Mary Fiore cooking food for picketers might have been taken in the basement of the strike headquarters, near Barton and Ottawa streets, just southeast of Brightside. (Source: United Steelworkers of America. Local 1005 McClure Fonds; Courtesy of William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University)
Comic book style rendering of Stelco strike events and the Brightside neighbourhood.
Simon Orpana’s artistic rendering of USW Local 1005 McClure Picket photos as informed by Lino Trigatti’s recollections of the event. (Source: <eM>Showdown!</em>, pgs. 88-89, Courtesy of Between the Lines).

Listen: A Union Community. Click the play circle below. 

Show/Hide Transcript

Speaker 1:    

The reason I didn’t work at Stelco that year is because it they went on strike. 

[laughter]  

[chatter] 

Speaker 2:    

That’s not the question he’s asking… 

Speaker 3:    

It’s my fault. 

Speaker 2:    

…what was the condition between the Dofasco and Stelco? 

Speaker 1:    

One was union and one was not. 

Speaker 4:    

Yeah, that’s right. 

Speaker 2:    

Oh, one was union, and one was not. 

Speaker 3:    

And Brightside would be largely a Union community. 

Speaker 1:    

Yes. 

For Stelco. 

In fact, if you worked at Dofasco, you were a traitor. 

[laughter] 

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