Editing Saint John, New Brunswick (section)

==Labour==

===Canada's first trade union===
Saint John is often described as the birthplace of unionism in Canada and is one of the few pre-capitalist colonial settlements in North America. The city has a history of labour achievements and sparked the Canadian labour movement with Canada's first trade union, the Labourers' Benevolent Association (now International Longshoremen's Association Local 273). In 1849 the union was formed when Saint John's longshoremen banded together to lobby for regular pay and a shorter workday. One of their first resolutions was to apply to the city council for permission to erect the bell, which would announce the beginning and end of the labourers' 10-hour workday. As the bell shears were hardly finished when capitalists and merchants in the city objected to the bell and successfully lobbied city hall to keep the bell from being put up. But then, citizens and longshoremen defied the order and erected a larger bell and merchants withdrew their opposition to the "Labourers' Bell". ILA Local 273 remain one of the city's strongest trade unions to this day.<ref>{{cite web|title=For Whom The Bells Toll|url=http://www.wfhathewaylabourexhibitcentre.ca/labour-history/for-whom-the-bells-toll/|publisher=Hatheway Labour Exhibit Center|access-date=May 6, 2017}}</ref>

===The Saint John Street Railwaymen's strike and riot of 1914===
[[File:1914 Saint John riot aftermath.jpg|thumb|1914 Saint John Railwaymen's Strike riot]]

The [[1914 Saint John street railway strike]] (sometimes called the ''Saint John street railwaymen's strike'')<ref name=Babcock>{{cite journal |last=Babcock |first=Robert H. |date=January 1982 |title=The Saint John Street Railwaymen's Strike and Riot, 1914 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/11570/0 |journal=[[Acadiensis]] |publisher=[[University of New Brunswick]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |issn=0044-5851 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}</ref> was a [[strike action|strike]] by workers on the street railway system in the city which lasted from July 22 to 24, 1914, with rioting by Saint John inhabitants occurring on July 23 and 24. The strike was important for shattering the image of Saint John as a conservative town dominated primarily by ethnic and religious (rather than class) divisions, and highlighting tensions between railway industrialists and the local working population.

===October 14, 1976: The Saint John General Strike===
The Saint John General Strike of 1976 was a result of the Bill C-73 passed by Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and the House of Commons in Ottawa on October 14, 1975. This bill limited wage increases to 8% the first year, 6% the second year, and 4% the third year after its enactment. Most provinces of Canada accepted the bill by spring of 1976, but within eighteen months they began to withdraw from the program. After its introduction in 1975, it was not until 1976 that the Anti-Inflation Board (AIB) began to roll back workers' wages. The employees of Irving Pulp and Paper, members of the Canadian Paper Workers Union, were among the first to experience the roll backs implemented by the AIB. The paper workers were required to give back to the employer 9.8% of their previous wage increase the first year, and 11% the second year. The Atlantic Sugar Refinery workers of the Bakery and Confectionary Workers International Union of America soon felt the burden as well. The majority of workers within Saint John were influenced by the AIB by January 1976. On February 5, 1976, the Saint John District and the Labour Council held a conference to plan an organized opposition to the AIB. Fifty-two people came to the meeting as representatives of twenty-six unions in Saint John. The council was led by the Labour Council president, George Vair. They began by educating those present on wage control legislation, but swiftly transitioned into rallying and demonstrating in opposition throughout the city. Five thousand marched from numerous ends of the town to King Square. All major industries in Saint John were shut down.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canadian workers strike against wage controls, 1976|url=http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/canadian-workers-strike-against-wage-controls-1976|access-date=May 6, 2017}}</ref>

===The Irving Oil Refinery strike, 1994–1996===
On May 12, 1994, at 4:30 pm, members of Local 691 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) union at the Irving Oil Ltd. Refinery went on strike. At this time the refinery's management took over its operations. Irving had argued the refinery might have to shut down and had to bring in a bevy of rollbacks to the workers' pay and benefits and other changes to the collective agreement. Local 691 argued Irving simply wished to lengthen the work week without paying workers overtime rates. The strike lasted 27 months and was based on Irving's demands for flexibility of the workers to ensure the refinery was competitive. The strike is seen as symbolic of a rollback of labour and democratic collective bargaining rights that have been in decline across North America.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Steuter|first1=Erin|last2=Martin|first2=Geoff|title=The Myth of the Competitive Challenge: The Irving Oil Refinery Strike, 1994–96 and the Canadian Petroleum Industry|url=http://spe.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/view/6728|access-date=May 6, 2017}}</ref>