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History of the Canadian Union Movement

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Several distinct characteristics of Canada have helped shape its labour history ... Atlantic Canada saw 411 strikes between 1901 and 1914, most of them by coal ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: History of the Canadian Union Movement


1
C h a p t e r
3
  • History of the Canadian Union Movement

2
History of Canadian Labour Movement
  • Union history in Canada has been marked by
    conflict between different cultures, classes, and
    regions
  • Several distinct characteristics of Canada have
    helped shape its labour history

3
History of Canadian Labour Movement
  • Canadian characteristics that have shaped labour
    history
  • Physical geography
  • Canada's large size meant most early unions were
    local or regional
  • Resource-based industries hampered union
    organizing
  • Proximity to U.S. influenced Canadian unions
  • Cultural mix
  • Immigrants with organizing experience helped
    develop Canadian unions
  • However, unions have not always responded well to
    culturally diverse workforces

4
History of Canadian Labour Movement
  • Economic system
  • Historically based in primary and secondary
    industries, but toward the end of the 20th
    century, role of tertiary (or service) industries
    had grown
  • Reliance on trade has challenged unions
  • Political structure
  • Division between federal and provincial
    jurisdictions has allowed for experimentation and
    reform

5
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • The period of local unionism
  • Earliest attempts to organize were limited to
    specific geographic areas and small groups of
    workersusually in one trade known as the craft
    union model
  • Two main reasons
  • Size of Canada
  • The need to protect wage rates for workers in
    skilled trades
  • Canada's role as exporter also contributed

6
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • Informal workers' groups formed as early as 1827
  • First formal unions emerged around the same time
    historians differ on which one was the first
    Canadian union
  • Prevalence of craft unionism initially inhibited
    any wider union growth did not encourage
    alternative model, known as industrial unionism
  • Industrial unionism
  • Focuses on strength in numbers
  • Maximizing power by recruiting as many members as
    possible, regardless of their occupation

7
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • Due to the dominance of craft unions, the next
    major expansion of the Canadian labour movement
    came through affiliation with international
    unions, usually based in the U.S.
  • Mid- and late-1800s saw the continental movement
    of U.S.-based unions entering Canada
  • Restricted primarily to Ontario and other regions
    with trade links to the U.S.
  • Late 1800s
  • unions began to cooperate, e.g., the Nine-Hour
    Movement (1872) employers resisted the movement,
    resulting in Toronto typesetters' and printers'
    strike

8
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • At the time, there was almost no Canadian
    legislation addressing industrial relations
    issues
  • The British government had used criminal
    conspiracy or monopoly laws to block union
    organizing until 1871, when it passed the Trades
    Union Act, establishing the right of workers to
    organize a union

9
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • Similar monopoly laws were used in Canada to
    arrest and charge 24 leaders of the Toronto
    strike charges laid by George Brown, publisher
    of the Globe newspaper and an enemy of Prime
    Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
  • Macdonald adopted a Canadian version of Trades
    Union Act to punish Brown while the charges were
    dropped, the Nine-Hour Movement was broken

10
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • The Nine-Hour Movement led to the formation of
    the first federations of trade unions, the
    Canadian Labour Union (1873) and the Trades and
    Labour Congress (TLC)
  • The TLC
  • Was formed in 1883
  • Lobbied for reforms to labour legislation that
    would benefit all workers
  • Remained a national force in the Canadian labour
    movement for the next 70 years

11
Early Canadian Unionism the 1800s
  • The Knights of Labor
  • First international industrial union to enter
    Canada (1881)
  • Organized workers in occupations that Canadian
    unions considered too challenging, such as
    railway work, mining and other resource
    industries
  • Organized women and minority workers
  • Denounced by a papal letter in Quebec the letter
    was rescinded in 1887

12
The Industrial Age the Early 1900s
  • Work in Canada continued to evolve from
    rural-based, individually controlled work to
    urban, factory-based
  • U.S. union organizers came to Canada to recruit
    members
  • Federal Conciliation Act (1900) created federal
    department of labour gave it power to appoint
    third-party intervenors or commissions of inquiry
  • 1902 - The TLC elects a craft union member for
    president expels Knights of Labor and national
    unions

13
The Industrial Age the Early 1900s
  • An active economy created high demand for
    workers, allowing them to press for better wages
    and working conditions
  • Railways were expanding rapidly and became a
    target for organizers, leading to several major
    railway strikes
  • American unions representing railway workers in
    some cases sided with ownersan indication that
    the continental movement might have negative
    implications for Canadian workers

14
The Industrial Age the Early 1900s
  • Railway strikes led to passage of Industrial
    Disputes Investigation Act (1907) the act
  • Required that industrial disputes under federal
    jurisdiction be submitted to a neutral third
    party
  • Introduced principles that are still present in
    many current Canadian labour laws

15
The Industrial Age the Early 1900s
  • In Atlantic Canada, unions had been more active
    in organizing less-skilled and non-craft workers
    than in central Canada
  • Atlantic Canada saw 411 strikes between 1901 and
    1914, most of them by coal miners, represented by
    the Provincial Workmen's Association
  • 140 of those strikes were by associations of
    unskilled labourers

16
The Industrial Age the Early 1900s
  • Economic growth lasted until about 1914, when
    U.S.-based unions made up about 80 percent of
    total Canadian union membership
  • U.S. domination was partly due to the Industrial
    Workers of the World (IWW), the Wobblies
  • IWW was similar to Knights of Labor in philosophy
    and strategy, but had a more socialist
    orientation, advocating general strikes as a
    means of creating a new, egalitarian society

17
The First World War
  • The advent of the 1st World War made unionization
    more attractive to Canadian workers
  • Increased production that was needed to supply
    the war effort put pressure on workers to produce
    more for the same pay
  • Continuing mechanization of production further
    reduced the market value of skilled craftspeople

18
The First World War
  • The 1st World War
  • The federal government expanded the jurisdiction
    of the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act to
    include munitions industries, which limited the
    ability of workers in those industries to strike
  • Many workers felt existing unions were not
    adequately addressing workers' concerns, e.g., by
    not formally opposing conscription. This drove
    some to more radical unions, such as the
    U.S.-based One Big Union (OBU)

19
The First World War
  • Two events demonstrate the extreme divisions
    between workers, government and employers
  • Albert Ginger Goodwin, B.C. labour organizer,
    was shot and killed by a Dominion Police officer
    his death led to a one-day general strike in
    Vancouver
  • The Winnipeg General Strike (1919) was the first
    extended, large-scale general strike involving
    workers from many different occupations and unions

20
The First World War
  • The Winnipeg General Strike
  • This strike began when 30,000-35,000 unionized
    and non-unionized workers walked off their jobs
  • A committee representing employers and all three
    levels of government attempted to force strikers
    back to work
  • Winnipeg mayor fired the entire city police
    force police were replaced with volunteer
    special constables
  • Parliament passed emergency amendment to the
    Immigration Act allowing for immediate
    deportation of immigrants also broadened the
    Criminal Code allowing police to arrest on basis
    of suspicion, rather than evidence burden of
    proof was placed on the accused

21
The First World War
  • Eight strike leaders were arrested and charged
  • Royal Northwest Mounted Police broke up strikers
    protest march on June 21 two people were killed
    and 30 seriously injured
  • Strike ended June 25 strike leaders realized
    their objectives couldnt be accomplished due to
    opposition from government, business, and
    employers
  • However, it was a turning point in the Canadian
    labour movement
  • OBU began to wane as infighting rose and many
    members found themselves unable to pay dues

22
The First World War Era
  • In Quebec, at the end of the decade,
    unions gained strength because of
    the influence of the
    Catholic Church
  • In 1921, so-called Catholic
    unions formed the Confédération
    des travailleurs catholiques du
    Canada (CTCC) the CTCC became
    increasingly militant toward the
    practised ethnocentrism of
    American-owned firms

23
The First World War Era
  • The CTCC was involved in several high-profile
    strikes, including the 1949 Asbestos strike,
    which was seen as a victory against U.S. firms
    and the Duplessis government
  • In 1961, it became the Confédération des
    syndicats nationaux (CSN) or, in English, the
    Confederation of National Trade Unions (CNTU),
    which exists today

24
After the War
  • Canadian unions faced many difficulties after the
    First World War, including
  • Widespread unemployment and wage cuts
  • Disunity within the movement
  • A poor agricultural market, the U.S. stock market
    crash (1929), and the subsequent Great Depression
  • In contrast, some positive developments occurred
  • Skilled workers were still needed and were able
    to maintain unity
  • Industrial councils were formed and included
    less-skilled workers
  • Communities of ethnic immigrants within
    occupations created networks for support and
    information

25
After the War
  • During the Depression, unemployed workers banded
    together to lobby for improved relief payments
    also demanded better conditions in government-run
    relief camps
  • Two major events demonstrated the extent of
    resistance to the relief camps
  • The On to Ottawa Trek (1935), which ended in a
    violent clash with RCMP in Regina
  • Bloody Sunday, the Vancouver post office riots
    (1938)

26
After the War
  • The Canadian Communist Party became an attractive
    political alternative for some disillusioned
    workers the party promoted unionism as a way to
    transform capitalism
  • In 1927, the Communist Party launched the
    All-Canadian Congress of Labour, the first major
    alternative to the TLC as a national federation
    for Canadian unions

27
After the War
  • Snider vs. Toronto Electrical Commission
  • This 1925 ruling by the British Privy Council
    settled the question of federal and provincial
    jurisdiction over labour relations
  • Federal governments jurisdiction over labour
    relations extended only to federally regulated
    industries
  • Ruling hampered development of Canadian unions
    because organizing was more difficult under
    varying laws

28
After the War
  • The Wagner Act (1935)
  • U.S. legislation introduced by President Franklin
    Roosevelt guaranteed three basic rights to U.S.
    union members
  • The right to organize
  • The right to collective bargaining
  • The right to strike without employer harassment
  • Employers were forced to recognize a union that
    had the support of the majority of workers
  • Several provinces adopted similar legislation
  • This act was the model on which many Canadian
    labour codes were based and contains principles
    that are still present in Canadian labour laws

29
After the War
  • The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
  • Founded in the U.S. in 1935 to represent workers
    in mass-production industries and to organize
    unorganized workers
  • Clashed with the American Federation of Labor
    (AFL)
  • AFL instructed the TLC to expel Canadian unions
    linked to CIO affiliates, which it did
    reluctantly
  • The CIO opened a Canadian office in 1937 and
    organized steelworkers, autoworkers, and other
    production workers
  • Also during the Depression, the Co-operative
    Commonwealth Federation (CCF)a forerunner of the
    New Democratic Party, elected its first members
    of Parliament

30
The Second World War
  • 2nd World War stimulated the economy,
    dramatically increasing employment
  • Fearing radicals and militants would disrupt
    production, the federal government expanded the
    jurisdiction of the Industrial Disputes
    Investigation Act in 1939 and required strike
    votes
  • The government also introduced wage and price
    controls
  • Unionization rates increased significantly with
    the war, and the divisions between craft and
    industrial unions became more formal at the
    national levels of the union movement

31
The Second World War
  • The All-Canadian Congress of Labour and the CIO
    joined to form the Canadian Congress of Labour
    (CCL), giving Canada two national labour
    federations
  • The CCL - industrial-union based affiliated with
    the CIO in the U.S.
  • The TLC - craft-union based affiliated with the
    AFL
  • Strike activity increased during the first few
    years of the war and by 1943, one in three union
    members was on strike
  • Following a long and bitter strike by northern
    Ontario gold miners in 1941-42, the federal
    government amended its labour legislation

32
The Second World War
  • In 1944, the federal government passed P.C. 1003,
    modelled on the Wagner Act
  • P.C. 1003 included compulsory collective
    bargaining and the right of employee
    representatives to be certified as bargaining
    agents if they could demonstrate sufficient
    support
  • Similar acts were passed by Quebec and B.C.

33
After the Second World War
  • The war was followed by fears that the post-First
    World War recession would be repeated Mackenzie
    Kings government tried to offset this by giving
    benefits to returning veterans
  • The first major post-war strike occurred in 1945,
    at the Windsor, Ont. Ford plant
  • Justice Ivan Rand decided union dues would be
    automatically deducted from every workers
    paycheque, but that individuals would be allowed
    to opt out of the union
  • The Rand Formula was being used by 90 percent of
    Canadian unions by 1950

34
After the Second World War
  • Post-war price increases led unionized workers to
    demand matching wage increases
  • Many employers, assuming P.C. 1003 had been a
    temporary measure, did not respond to union
    demands
  • The result was a series of large, extended
    strikes that began in 1946 and continued for the
    next four years
  • The federal government enshrined the principles
    of P.C. 1003 in the Industrial Disputes
    Investigation Act (1948) and by 1950, nearly
    every province had a similar labour code

35
After the Second World War
  • The Asbestos Strike (1949) in Quebec
  • An illegal strike, supported by Catholic churches
    and the Archbishop of Montreal
  • Quebec Premier Duplessis sent armed police to
    Asbestos strikers responded by beating company
    officials and dynamiting company property
  • May Strikers, incensed that the company had
    hired replacement workers, attacked the mines and
    the police over 200 were arrested
  • June A settlement was negotiated
  • Served notice to the world that the Catholic
    unions were no less militant than their secular
    counterparts
  • Marked the end of the formal relationship between
    the Catholic Church and the Quebec union movement

36
The 1950s and 1960s
  • Period of growth and development for unions
  • Inter-union disputes were reduced when the TLC
    and CCL merged in 1956 to create the Canadian
    Labour Congress (CLC) the CLC affiliated with
    the Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL)
  • Concerns during this period included increasing
    bureaucratization and centralization of the
    predominantly international unions
  • Bitter disputes
  • Murdochville, Quebec (1957) violent mining
    strike ended with the union conceding defeat
  • Newfoundland (1958-59) International Woodworkers
    of America (IWA) clashed with Premier Smallwood
    policeman killed during fighting and the IWA was
    defeated

37
The 1950s and 1960s
  • Early 1960s saw the beginning of an extended
    growth period in the labour movement, due mostly
    to extensive organizing in the public sector
  • Private-sector wages and conditions were becoming
    superior to public sector
  • 1965 - public sector unionization became a
    priority for the federal government, due to a
    national postal strike and the election of a
    Liberal minority government that was dependent on
    the New Democratic Party for support

38
The 1950s and 1960s
  • Ottawa passed the Public Service Staff Relations
    Act, which gave federal public servants the right
    to arbitration or strike action
  • This act served as a model for most provinces and
    by 1975 every province and territory had some
    form of labour relations legislation governing
    public service employees

39
The 1950s and 1960s
  • During the same period, para-public sector
    workers also organized on a large scale
  • Some joined existing public-sector unions others
    joined the Canadian Union of Public Employees
    (CUPE), a newer union that organized municipal
    and regional government workers
  • Also during this period, changing technology
    affected workplaces, including railways and
    newspapers

40
The 1970s and 1980s
  • The early 1970s saw disruption in the Canadian
    economy
  • Unemployment and inflation rose
  • North America was challenged by new economic
    powers in other parts of the world
  • Unions were blamed for inflation and lower
    productivity

41
The 1970s and 1980s
  • In October 1975, the federal government
    implemented a three-year program of wage and
    price controls collective agreements had to be
    approved by the Anti-Inflation Board
  • Strike activity rose significantly after controls
    were imposed over one million workers took part
    in a one-day national strike on October 15, 1976
  • When the program ended in 1978, its effects were
    unclear

42
The 1970s and 1980s
  • Early 1980s
  • Interest rates were increased to fight inflation,
    causing the worst unemployment since the 1930s
  • Social programs were restricted
  • Federal and provincial governments reduced the
    bargaining power of public sector unions

43
The 1970s and 1980s
  • The 70s and 80s saw numerous high-profile strikes
    in the public and private sector
  • 1972 Quebec public sector strike
  • 1978 national postal strike
  • 1978 eight-and-a-half-month-long strike
    by Ontario steelworkers, followed by
    another lengthy strike in 1981
  • In 1982, the federal government suspended public
    servants bargaining rights for two years

44
The 1970s and 1980s
  • The federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)
    provided new guidelines for labour relations
  • The election of a federal Conservative government
    in 1984 and the emergence of major business
    alliances such as the Business Council on
    National Issues, created a hostile atmosphere for
    unions
  • Several major private-sector strikes during the
    1980s

45
The 1970s and 1980s
  • Labour movement also saw internal dissent
  • The Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU),
    intended as a national federation for
    Canadian-based unions, presented an alternative
    to the CLC
  • Construction unions broke away from the CLC to
    form the Canadian Federation of Labour
    (1982-1997)
  • Canadian locals of the United Auto Workers split
    from U.S. parent union to form the Canadian Auto
    Workers

46
The 1970s and 1980s
  • The trend that developed toward Canadian control
    of Canadian unions has continued to the present
    day
  • The demise of the CFL and the CCU has left the
    CLC and the QFL and CNTU as the major labour
    federations in Canada

47
The 1990s and Beyond
  • The advent of liberalized international trade was
    the major event of the 1990s
  • This includes the North American Free Trade
    Agreement (NAFTA) of 1992 and Canadas
    participation in worldwide tariff reductions
    under the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and
    Trade and the World Trade Organization

48
The 1990s and Beyond
  • Some employers have used NAFTA to move formerly
    unionized jobs to regions with lower labour
    costs and non-unionized workers
  • Unionization rates in Canada did not drop
    significantly in the 1990s, although there has
    been a slow gradual decline since the 1970s
  • The New Democratic Party, historically labours
    best friend in politics, declined during the
    1990s it remains to be seen what effect this
    will have on labour policy

49
The 1990s and Beyond
  • The future can be viewed negatively or positively
    for unions
  • Negative perspective
  • Internationalization, the slow decline in
    unionization rates, and the decline of the NDP,
    could suggest further erosion of unions power
  • Positive perspective
  • The relative strength of Canadian unions compared
    to those in the U.S. and the history of
    adaptability of the Canadian system suggest that
    the system will continue

50
Until next week
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