Unit 2 Lesson 5 Flashcards
What were the key factors in the popular of craft unions in the early Canadian union movement?
- The size of Canada
- Protected Wage Rates
- Most people were employed in the trades as Canada was and exporter
What were some of the first Canadian unions, and who did they organize?
Many different options as this does not seem to be well documented here are the following options for the text book
1. printers’ union in Quebec City in 1827
2. shoemakers’ or tailors’ union in Montreal in 1830
3. journey- men workmen in Halifax in 1816
4. 1800s Saint John, New Brunswick (ship building)
By 1840, Saint John had 10 different trades associations with a total of 1,200 members.
In short, some of the first unions in Canada were craft unions organized by tradesmen
What are the negative aspects of the craft union model?
This model of organizing did not encourage unionization of less-skilled workers or workers in non- trade occupations—the alternative organizing model of industrial unionism. This form of unionism focuses on “strength in numbers” and maximizing power by recruiting as many union members as possible, regardless of occupation, rather than concentrating solely on membership within a particular occupational group.
early miners’ unions in British Columbia, were deliberately established along craft lines to…
exclude workers who were seen as threats to their members’ living standards (e.g., immigrant Chinese labourers who were perceived to be undercutting min- ers’ wage rates).
As a result of the railway strikes, the federal government
with the encouragement of then–Deputy Minister of Labour William Lyon Mackenzie King, passed the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act in 1907
The advent of the First World War, following a short economic depression, had a dramatic effect on the growth of Canadian unions. Three simultaneously occurring factors made unionization more attractive to Canadian workers.
The first factor was the increased production needed to supply the war effort.
The second factor was the continuing mechanization of production.
Finally, the federal government expanded the jurisdiction of the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act to include munitions industries.
Many Canadian labour historians identify the Winnipeg General Strike as a turning point in the Canadian union movement
Even with extensive organizing and widespread worker support, the union movement was unable to achieve its demands when opposed by the power of the state and the capitalist system. The workers involved in the strike were also disadvantaged by the dominance of international craft unions in the union movement.
Promoting unionization was difficult after the first world war because
most workers were grateful just to have a job and did not want to threaten that status by antagonizing their employers. There was also disunity in the Canadian labour movement, with fighting between Canadian and inter- national unions, craft and industrial unions, and unions with different regional concerns. Such disharmony did not make unionization attractive to workers.
There was, however, some positive activity for Canadian unions during the Great Depression
skilled workers were still needed for many production functions in factories and workplaces, and many of these groups of workers were able to maintain their unionization as craftspeople. some occupations (such as steelworking and longshoring), workers formed “industrial councils”—which included the less-skilled workers in the same organization—to support demands made to employers. communities of ethnic immigrants within many occupations, such as Ukrainians in mining and Jews in the clothing and fabric industries, created support and information networks that could then be built upon for unionization efforts.
A significant legal event during this time was the resolution of the question of federal and provincial jurisdiction over labour relations.
The case of Snider v. Toronto Electrical Commission raised the question of whether federal labour relations legislation—specifically, the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act—applied to provincially owned industries. The case went to the highest court of Canadian jurisdiction at the time, the British Privy Council. The Privy Council’s ruling in 1925 determined that the federal government’s jurisdiction over labour relations extended only to federally regulated industries and that all other labour relations matters were the responsibility of provincial governments.
Despite the restrictions imposed by the newly expanded jurisdiction of the Indus- trial Disputes Investigation Act, strike activity increased in the first few years of the war. By 1943, one of every three union members was on strike
This level of strike activity was attributable to the expertise and resources that were now available to Canadian unions through their international affiliations. The international unions provided guidance and leadership based on experience gained elsewhere, and offered financial support so that striking workers could continue their actions after other resources were exhausted.
In early 1944, the federal government passed P.C. 1003, a wartime order-in-council (similar in effect to a law passed by Parliament in peacetime) modelled on the American Wagner Act.
The provisions of P.C. 1003 included compulsory collective bargaining and the right of “employee representatives” to be certified as bargaining agents by a labour relations board, if the representatives could prove that they had sufficient support among employees in a workplace. The passage of P.C. 1003 led to further union organizing because of the legislative recognition of employee and union rights, and Quebec and British Columbia passed similar acts at the provincial level.
An important event for union-management relations during this time was the settlement of the first major Canadian post-war strike.
In late 1945, workers at the Ford Motor Company plant in Windsor went on strike over the issue of job security, motivated by concerns about post-war downsizing, and demanded a “closed shop,” where union membership was a condition of employment—that is, workers would have to join the union if they wanted to work in the plant. The dispute over the issue of the closed shop went to arbitration, and Justice Ivan Rand was chosen to make a decision. Rand’s decision was that union dues would be automatically deducted from every worker’s paycheque. In exchange, the union would allow individuals to formally opt out of union membership if they so desired. The automatic deduction of union dues was awarded in recognition of the union’s activities in representing the interests of all workers to management. The so-called Rand Formula was being used by 90 percent of Canadian unions by 1950.
Despite the existence of legislation ensuring workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively, many employers were not responsive to these demands.
Employers had assumed that the passage of P.C. 1003 had been a temporary necessity to keep operations going during the war and that they would not be compelled to recognize or bargain with unions once the war was over.59 This conflict led to a series of large, extended strikes in 1946 involving the lumber industry in British Columbia, the shipping industry on the Great Lakes, and the textile industry in Quebec. Further large- scale strikes occurred regularly across the country for the next four years. It was clear that the Canadian industrial relations system needed the same sort of permanent regulation that the Wagner Act had brought to the American system.
1956, the TLC and the CCL followed the lead of their American affiliates
and merged to form a single national Canadian labour federation, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The CLC in turn affiliated with a Quebec coun- terpart, the Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL).
The start of the 1960s saw the beginning of a period of growth in the Canadian union movement
mostly due to extensive organizing in the public sector. Public sector unionization had been relatively minor up to this point because of the perception that employment in the public service was, as the name suggests, a form of service to the community or the country that implicitly required a long-term commitment.
In 1965, two circumstances made public sector unionization more of a priority for the federal government.
After a national postal strike, the government realized that ignoring public sector bargaining issues would have negative consequences. A federal election around the same time as the postal strike resulted in the election of a Liberal minority government.
