I had my eyes opened to what I thought about the history of the industrial age and beginning of the work force. The film taught me many things about how much worse the job sites were. One person that was featured throughout the film was William Lyon Mackenzie-King. All his life was influential in Canadian history and unions. My reflection, I would like to discuss the factors throughout his life that made him such a huge part of history. Mackenzie-King received his first big break from the government when he was named Deputy Minister of Labour, and later the actual Minister of Labour. He was brought in to intervene, but not help the people, but the employers to keep the union talk at per. He believed that government can help keep the workers happy through laws. He helped pass a law that states something like this “To avoid strikes, a person has the right to complain, but only through the courts”. To connect to modern day, the union’s of today wouldn’t be …show more content…
He was tested almost right away. One of Rockerfeller’s companies “Colorado Mining” was having an issue with their workers. They were fighting for living wages and better living conditions. The company didn’t respond too well to the demands and did some brutal things to the workers and their families. People were shot and some of the woman and children were set ablaze while in their homes. It was William Mackenzie-King’s job to salvage the Rockerfeller name. He told the people that their boss was a partner not enemy of them. He ended up disbanding the union and created one for the company union. Miners were given the right grieve but not the right to negotiate. This experience led to William Mackenzie-King to write his own book to express his own visions. The picture many not paint a pretty picture for this gentleman, but he is the fore front of the history of unions and Canadian politics. Am slowly appreciating the little things he offered thus