[1] Launched formally in Calgary on June 4, 1919, the OBU, after a spectacular initial upsurge, lost most of its members within a few years.

Western Canadian radicals protested the management of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC), the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the governments in power.

But, labour activists and socialists were determined not to allow the vision of a new society to die and established a new organization with the IWW motto, "Workers of the World, Unite!"

The majority at the conference voted to form a new "revolutionary industrial union" separate from the AFL/TLC, to be initiated officially at a convention scheduled for June 11.

[2] The conference also approved resolutions condemning the Canadian government's practices during the war and expressing solidarity with the Bolsheviks in Russia and the Spartacist League in Germany.

The general strike that began in Winnipeg on May 15 was in large part inspired by the One Big Union's ideals.

Most strike leaders, such as Edmonton's Joe Knight, Calgary's Mrs. Jean MacWilliams, and Amherst's Frank Burke, were OBU affiliates.

The One Big Union organized by industry rather than by trade, in response to a de-emphasis of craftsmanship (Taylorism) and the burgeoning demand for unskilled labour.