Two weeks before Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, the Saint John central business district was the site of another type of conflict: a labour struggle that pitted more than 100 members of the street railway union against the unpopular streetcar company. The three-day strike drew thousands of onlookers and supporters to the uptown area and produced the most iconic image from early 20th-century Saint John, two tram cars resting on their side in Market Square, observed by curious citizens. Despite its significance, the strike and riot are not commemorated by a plaque or found in any tourism promotion materials for the city.
This episode begins with an overview of the history of the city’s streetcar system, which in the era before mass automobile ownership and public transit buses was an essential urban service for commuters, workers and shoppers. We next examine the labour movement in early 20th century Saint John, noting some of its victories and losses, to remind listeners that Saint John in the past was also a workers’ city and that unions were in the vanguard of social reform.
We move on to the causes of the strike, which involved unfair labour practices by the employer, and how the union members maintained discipline and appealed to replacement workers to come over to their side, while non-union sympathizers used intimidation tactics to stop the running of the streetcars. The overturning of two streetcars on the second day of the strike led to some of the most dramatic incidents in the city’s history. These included the reading of the Riot Act; a foolhardy and dangerous cavalry charge into a crowd of several thousand men, women and children; an attack on the company’s power plant that knocked out electricity to the city for a few hours; a less successful attempt on the company’s car barns and workshop that was fended off by armed private detectives and the calling out of several hundred militia, armed with rifles, bayonets and cavalry sabres, to maintain order.
The episode concludes with a conversation with playwright and Université de Moncton literature professor Thomas Hodd, author of the play O’Brien, which is inspired by the events in Saint John in July 1914. The discussion here includes the richness of Saint John as an inspiration for dramatic work and the importance of telling New Brunswick stories. O’Brien, a production of Theatre New Brunswick, will be staged in several New Brunswick communities from March 5 to March 16, 2025. The play’s Saint John date is March 9, 2025. For more in the production, see: https://www.tnb.nb.ca/obrien/.
Sources:
Fred Angus, Loyalist-City-Streetcars: The Story of Street Railway Transit in Saint John, New Brunswick (New York: Railfare Enterprises, 1979).
Robert H. Babcock, “The Saint John Street Railwaymen's Strike and Riot, 1914,” Acadiensis, Volume 11, Number 2 (Spring 1982: 3–27
David Frank, Provincial Solidarities: A History of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour (Athabasca University Press, 2013).
J.L. Payne, “Electric Railways in Canada,” Street Railway Journal, (Feb. 1, 1908): 165-66
Scott Price, “The 1906 streetcar strike,” The Uniter, Vol. 78 (10), (Nov. 16, 2023): https://uniter.ca/view/the-1906-streetcar-strike
Sherway Academy of Music, “Toronto Street Cars Documentary History,” (Nov. 7, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd5h060w8rE
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