Asbestos Strike The Asbestos Strike was one of the most bitter labour disputes in Quebec and Canadian history. It is often called, "the first shot of the Quiet Revolution." The strike in large part was led by Jean Marchand. Jounralist Gérard Pelletier and future Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau also played significant roles. At midnight on February 14 1949 miners walked off the job at four asbestos mines in the Eastern Townships region. The union had several demands. Included among others were; elimination of asbestos dust inside and outside of the mill, a fifteen cent an hour general wage increase, a five cent an hour for night work, a social security fund to be administered by the union, the implementation of the Rand Formula, and double time payment for work on Sundays and holidays. Though these demands appear fairly modest today, at the time they were quite a radical set of demands in the province of Quebec. The strike was illegal. Owners tried to keep the mines open by hiring strikebreakers. The 5000 strikers fought back and squads of police were brought in. Some of the incidents On March 14 a dynamite explosion destroyed part of a railroad track that led into the Canadian Johns-Manville Company's property. On the March 16 a company jeep was overturned by strikers and one of the jeeps passengers was injured. March 18 a company official was abducted from his home and severely beaten. Strikers had the support of unions in the rest of Canada and of the Catholic Church in Quebec. The Catholic Church, which had until this time been largely supportive of the Union Nationale government of Maurice Duplessis, profoundly affected the strike and its move away from the government signaled a dramatic change in Quebec society. Popular opinion for most of the strike was broadly supportive of the striking workers. This support, beyond it moral value, manifested itself through monetary support and the supply of provisions. It is likely that the strike would have quickly failed had it not been for these kinds of supports being established. However, the companies managed to keep the mines operating by hiring replacement workers. Violence flared, especially in the town of Asbestos, as police and strikers fought on the picket line. Hundreds of workers were arrested before the dispute finally ended on July 1, 1949. Miners received a small pay increase, but many did not get their jobs back. Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos_Strike