
One Big Union
A legacy of workers' struggle and solidarity
Noon, August 2, 1918. The clatter of hammers and the hum of machinery in downtown Vancouver ground to a sudden halt. Silence swept the streets as Canada's first general strike began. For the next twenty-four hours, the city was overtaken by protests, violence, and upheaval.
The Catalyst
Sparked by the killing of Albert "Ginger" Goodwin, The labour movement took a stand against poor working conditions, conscription, and wartime inequality.
Labourers across Vancouver, many fed up with exploitation, took to the streets. But they were immediately vilified by the government and mainstream society. Politicians, like Member of Parliament Herbert Sylvester Clemens, wasted no time condemning the strikers, labelling them as "slackers" and "Bolsheviks," fanning the flames of division.
If organized labor is to ally itself with draft evaders and lawbreakers, all right-thinking elements in the community will have to take steps to fight their danger."
Member of Parliament Herbert Sylvester Clemens (1918).
The confrontation reached a fever pitch. While some labour representatives managed to escape into the streets, others weren’t as lucky. Victor Midgley, the council secretary, was spotted teetering on the window ledge outside his office, desperately trying to evade the mob’s wrath. He was dragged back inside, where he would face their fury. Longshore Union delegate Joseph Thomas fared no better. Trapped in his office, unable to flee, the mob encircled him, dragged him downstairs, and delivered him to the same brutal fate. The men, cornered and outnumbered, faced a mob intent on vengeance, with no escape in sight.
‘Make the skunk kiss the good old flag!’
Reluctantly forced to kiss the Union Jack, Midgley and Thomas were jeered at, teased, and tossed around between the mob before finally being pulled from the chaos by the police and hauled to the safety of the station.


When Dan Campbell pulled the trigger and killed Goodwin on the banks of Comox Lake, he ignited more than just a bullet—he set off a chain of events that would change Canada's labour landscape forever. Goodwin’s martyrdom galvanised workers across the country, and though the 1918 Vancouver General Strike was short-lived, its significance was undeniable. The stage was set for an explosion of labour activism that would ripple through Canada in the years to come.
Goodwin and Naylor: Firebrands of Cumberland
Albert “Ginger” Goodwin and Joe Naylor were two towering figures in British Columbia’s labour movement. Goodwin’s fiery leadership and Naylor’s unwavering resolve helped shape Cumberland into a battleground for workers' rights and an epicentre for socialist ideals. Arriving from England in 1906, Goodwin quickly became a force to be reckoned with, organising miners and challenging the brutal conditions of the coal mines, first in Nova Scotia, then in B.C. By 1910, his speeches, laced with sharp critiques of capitalist oppression, were rallying cries for those ready to fight for a better future.
In order to throw this system over we have got to organise as a class and fight them as class against class. And so I say we have got to back our forces against them, and our weapons are education, organisation and agitation ... "
Albert ‘Ginger’ Goodwin, Western Clarion (1912).
Goodwin was among the leaders of the infamous "Big Strike" of 1912 in Cumberland, Nanaimo and Ladysmith—a two-year battle against poor wages, dangerous working conditions, and the mine owners' refusal to recognize the union. Although the strike ended in defeat, Goodwin's defiance earned him a permanent place in the hearts of miners across the province. Blacklisted and exiled, he travelled to Trail, BC, where he continued his advocacy for workers and conscientious objectors, seeing war as yet another tool of the capitalist machine.
Joe Naylor, Goodwin’s mentor and fellow socialist, added a different but equally crucial dimension to the movement. A miner from the industrial heart of Wigan, England, Naylor arrived in Cumberland in 1909 and quickly established himself as a leader. As president of the United Mine Workers of America Local 2299, he fought for workers' rights while educating them on the power of collective action. Naylor’s gentle approach, teaching labour songs to children at socialist meetings, contrasted with the hardened image of coal miners, but his activism was no less formidable. He advocated for solidarity across racial lines, recognizing that the true enemy was not fellow workers but the capitalist class pitting them against each other.

[They] would not have gone to work until the white men had gone if they had been left to themselves…it is the white men, and especially the men who have come from the same country as myself, and that is England, that are the real curse in this province, it isn’t the Asiatics at all."
Joe Naylor (1912).
The Rise of One Big Union
Labour movements between Eastern and Western Canada historically had not aligned, and the First World War only accentuated the difference between the two movements.
The Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC), formed and operating in Eastern Canada, openly supported US intervention and conscription in the First World War. Their stance was fiercely opposed by Western labour leaders, who vehemently opposed Canada’s participation in the War.
However, after recognition that the causes could not co-exist and achieve progression for the working man, steps were taken by both Western and Eastern labour activists to further their cause collectively.
The labour movement’s tipping point came in March 1919, when 240 labour union representatives from across Canada gathered in Calgary to form the One Big Union (One Big Union). This revolutionary idea rejected the traditional craft-based unions in favour of a unified industrial model that transcended job classifications.
At its core, the One Big Union was founded on the tenets of democratic industrial unionism, enabling the union to evolve according to the members' needs rather than enforcing a hierarchical structure. At its inaugural convention, delegates prioritised organising efforts over creating a rigid union bureaucracy. This attitude fostered a model that highlighted worker power in the workplace and facilitated the unionisation of workers in sectors where employer opposition and other systemic barriers had previously hindered their efforts. This radical approach threatened the capitalist status quo and promised to unite workers across industries and geographies.

The One Big Union . . . seeks to organize the wage worker not according to craft but according to industry; according to class and class needs; and calls upon all workers irrespective of nationality, sex, or craft to organize into a workers’ organization, so that they may be enabled to more successfully carry on the everyday fight."
The One Big Union Charter (1919).
Naylor, along with Victor Midgely were key figures in the One Big Union’s central committee, and were instrumental in shaping this new movement. The One Big Union’s message spread like wildfire, especially among workers in industries where employer resistance had long prevented unionisation. By early 1920, membership surged to over 40,000 as workers rallied around the call for solidarity and collective action.

Joe Naylor introduced a vital perspective to the One Big Union, challenging the prevailing racist union practices, notably the harmful strategy of excluding Asian workers.
Although the One Big Union's founders were predominantly Anglo-Canadian workers, reflecting the broader trade union movement at the time, the industries they organised, such as construction, mining, and logging, comprised an ethnically and racially diverse workforce.
Driven by Naylor, the One Big Union aimed to unite workers across racial and ethnic boundaries, fostering an inclusive class-based solidarity.

The Winnipeg General Strike: A Turning Point
The One Big Union’s growing influence was on full display during the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike—the largest strike in Canadian history. It began on May 15th when five hundred "Hello Girls," telephone operators, walked off the job, quickly followed by workers from the building and metal trades. By the end of the first day, more than 35,000 workers had laid down their tools in solidarity.

While the strike was ultimately crushed after six weeks of brutal repression, including arrests and violence, it demonstrated the power of organised labour. It underscored the need for a unified workers’ movement, a mission that the One Big Union sought to fulfil.
Legacy and Impact
Though the One Big Union faced intense opposition from both employers and the government, its legacy is undeniable. The government’s introduction of Section 98 in 1919, which criminalised labour organising, and media attacks accusing the One Big Union of Bolshevik revolutionaries, stymied its growth.
As a result, workers began to defect to other unions, and One Big Union membership plummeted to around 5,000 by 1922-23. Internal disagreements over organising and tactics also contributed to the decline.
As the One Big Union's radicalism waned, it merged with other labour groups to form the All-Canadian Congress of Labour and later the Canadian Federation of Labour.
By the 1940s, membership had rebounded to around 24,000, primarily in Winnipeg. Finally in 1956, the One Big Union was formally dissolved and absorbed into the Canadian Labour Congress.

The One Big Union laid the foundation for future labour movements in Canada. Its vision of class solidarity across industries, races, and nationalities planted seeds of resistance that would bear fruit in the decades to come. Workers across Canada had seen the power of collective action, and that lesson would not be easily forgotten.
Joe Naylor remained a steadfast champion for workers throughout his life, even as the One Big Union dissolved. He lived to witness the unionisation of Vancouver Island’s coal mines in 1937, a triumph of the very principles he had spent a lifetime fighting for.
The One Big Union may have risen and fallen quickly, but its impact reverberated throughout Canada, solidifying Cumberland’s place in the history of the labour movement. Through the grit, determination, and camaraderie of men like Goodwin and Naylor, the struggle for workers' rights became a battle for justice—a fight that continues to inspire activists today.