Robitnyche slovo («Робітниче слово»; Workers’ Word). A socialist weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, from June 1916 to September 1918, when it was closed down by the Canadian government. It succeeded the semimonthly Svidoma syla (est June 1915) and continued the same numbering scheme. It was published by members of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party of Canada (USDP) who were in opposition to the party’s executive. Robitnyche slovo aimed to raise the class consciousness of Ukrainian immigrant workers in Canada; informed its readers about developments in Ukraine, especially after the February Revolution of 1917; and polemicized with the more radical, pro-Bolshevik Robochyi narod, the official USDP organ. Over time it became a less partisan educational journal for workers and farmers. The editor of both Svidoma syla and Robitnyche slovo was I. Stefanitsky, and H. Mak, Pavlo Krat, and D. Borysko were associate editors.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]


Encyclopedia of Ukraine