 The Communists had been planning to merge the waterfront and relief camp strike, and hopefully other industrial workers into a general strike.Although these various groups of worker's were willingly under Communist leadership, they primarily were pursuing resolution to their own workplace grievances, not a proletarian revolution.The strike peaked with the July 18, 1935 Battle of Ballantyne Pier, where the police clashed with strikers and their supporters who had attempted to march down to the harbour.