History of Local 179 continued...

• The many strides forward that the early unions made could not have been accomplished without a labour friendly government. The Scott Liberals of 1908 helped move forward many of the benefits we have today:
• free compulsory education
• legal working day of eight hours, and a six-day week
• government inspection of all industries
• the abolition of the contract system on all public works
• a minimum living wage based on local conditions
• public ownership of all franchises such as railways
• tax reform by lessening taxes on industries and increasing it on land values
• abolition of the Senate
• exclusion of Chinese
• a union label to be placed on all government supplies
• abolition of child labour by children under 14 years of age, and of females in all branches of industrial life such as mines, workshops and factories
• abolition of property qualifications for public office
• voluntary arbitration for all labour disputes
• proportional representation with grouped constituencies and the abolition of municipal wards
• direct legislation through the initiative of referendum
• prohibition of prison labour in competition with free labour”

- On the Side of the People
A History of Labour in Saskatchewan, Pg. 50
Jim Warren and Kathleen Carlisle

• In 1910, after May Day, while building the Legislative Building, the Regina Trade and Labour Council (precursor to the Saskatchewan Building Trades and Construction Council) joined forces, made demands and went on strike. Starting with the workers who were working on the Legislative Building, and soon to cover the entire city. It began with the carpenters, with the plumbers and electricians following suit quickly thereafter. The contractors began importing strikebreakers from out of town, which resulted in even more union locals joining the strike. Soon the bricklayers and masons were the only building trades still at work.

  
  “Organized workers in Saskatchewan won modest wage increases in 1920 and 1921, thanks in part to 14 strikes. Some of these disputes were lengthy and hard-fought. The Regina members of the Plumbers, Gas and Steam Fitters international union went on strike in June 1921 and stayed out until November. This was Local 179, which today represents all unionized plumbers and pipefitters in the province. Throughout the summer and fall of 1921, the union’s monthly international newspaper, the UA Journal, warned plumbing tradesmen across North America to “keep away” from Regina. Strike pay was issued in the beginning of August; $445 a month was split among the several dozen men on the picket line. Plumbers everywhere pushed for better wages. By 1927, plumbing tradesmen in both Saskatoon and Windsor, Ontario were earning $10 a day, the best rate in the country. The great majority of the rest made $8.”

  - On the Side of the People
  A History of Labour in Saskatchewan, Pg. 73
  Jim Warren and Kathleen Carlisle

  The UA Journal ran this photo of Regina’s striking plumbers from Local 179 in 1921. UA Local 179 files.”

• Following the busy start of 1906, the building boom soon tailed off with the two World Wars and a depression, keeping membership of the locals at a low level.
• With the end of World War II, the industrialization of Saskatchewan increased and a steady increase of members was realized. It was during this period that Moose Jaw L.U. 409 and Prince Albert L.U. 258 were chartered.