The Battle of Ballantyne Pier

The strike that locked down British Columbia ports for 13 days is, at least tentatively, over.

It goes without saying that the cost in lost revenues, inconvenience and hard feelings will continue to be felt for some time.

But nothing like the longshoremen’s dispute of June 1935 that was defused by armed police officers using weapons and tear gas. This was during the Great Depression, the Dirty ‘30’s, when many governments, Canada’s provincial and federal included, viewed labour unrest as Communist agitation and a threat to our capitalist society.

In other words, to strike was to commit treason and was to be dealt with by whatever means necessary.

Canadians have come a long way in labour relations over the past 90-odd years. But it hasn’t been an easy road as you’ll see in this week’s Cowichan Chronicles.

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PHOTO: Mounted police officers during the Battle of Ballantyne Pier. —Wikipedia