Albert Goodwin

Albert "Ginger" Goodwin

Albert "Ginger" Goodwin (born Teesdale, England May 10, 1887) inspired the first General Strike in Canada on August 2, 1918 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The strike was a direct response to his murder by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and specifically one Deputy Dan Campbell. Ginger was murdered in the hills surrounding Cumberland, British Columbia on July 27, 1918 for avoiding the World War I draft. This strike preceded the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 an important moment in Canadian Labour history.

Suffering from miner's Black Lung and bad teeth Ginger was examined and considered unfit for military duty. The conscription board reversed their decision after Ginger led his second miners' strike in 1917 for the eight hour day. As a pacifist opposed to the war Ginger fled Cumberland for the bush where he successfully avoided capture for more than a year with the aid of his fellow workers from Cumberland.

Ginger was elected Vice-President of the British Columbia Federation of Labour in 1915 and secretary of his Industrial Workers of the World local. Ginger also ran unsuccessfully for the Socialist Party in Trail in 1916.