SESSION 2

Course: COMM 4BC3

Professor: Sean O’Brady
Source: iheartradio https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-
the-ontario-high-school-strike-on-wednesday-1.10334226

*Instructive material from Emond Montgomery Publications was incorporated into this deck
Pre-unionization

Master-slave relationship
§ Workers had few rights, the employer made all the rules
§ E.g. illegal to quit or refuse job offers, illegal to bargain collectively or form a union (“conspiracy”),
nothing barred yellow dog contracts

§ Employment relationship = employers and employees

§ Rarely governments, no associations

§ When the law was invoked, it generally empowered employers

§ Working conditions were poor

§ No working hour restrictions, no minimum pay, child labour permitted, no assistance in injury/death
Pre-unionization: Child labour at a glance

- “Surplus children” emigrated to

Canada to work as farm labour
- Sent by humanitarian organizations

- Mainly youngsters whose parents

lived in poverty or waifs left in
blankets

- Commonly older kids (8+), but

younger children were not
uncommon (e.g. 4-5)

- Farmers would recruit children

through advertisements in local
papers
Source:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/worki
ng-class-historyenglish-canada
The movement to unionization: The early years (pre-1900)

Craft unionism/New model unionism (late 1800s)

§ Membership on the basis of a trade or craft
§ E.g. typesetters, tailors, shoemakers, shipwrights, etc.
§ Many were formed out of the guild tradition

§ Rooted in the apprenticeship system

§ These unions sought to minimize wage competition

§ Workers outside of the craft were excluded from representation

§ Perceived differently in terms of status and their threat to craft wages

§ Their insistence on excluding other types of workers split the labour movement
These unions operated illegally until 1872
The movement to unionization: The early years (pre-1900)

The birth of unionism: The nine-hour movement and the Trade Union
Act of 1872
§ Inspired by similar movements in the UK and elsewhere, the nine-hour movement
sought to reduce the workday for Canadian workers
§ Sparked by workers in Hamilton, then spread to elsewhere in Canada
§ Highly contested between unions and employers

§ While gains were limited, and the goal of a nine-hour workday largely failed, it
influenced Sir John A. Macdonald to introduce the Trade Union Act (1872).
§ Reacting specifically to the arrest and prosecution of 24 leaders associated with the Toronto
printers strike (as political strategy), but also recognizing the growing power of the labour movement

§ The formation of unions was henceforth legalized, but the right to strike was still
illegal
The movement to unionization: The early years (pre-1900)

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Trades and Labour Congress
(TLC)
AFL formed out the craft tradition in the US (1886), by a cigar maker named Samuel
Gompers. It operated according to the following guiding principles
§ Exclusive jurisdiction
§ “One union per craft”

§ Business unionism
§ Unions should focus on servicing members, as opposed to broader societal goals

§ Political nonpartisanship
§ Labour should not align with a single political party or group

The TLC formed out of the defunct Canadian Labour Union (formed in 1873), largely
composed of AFL affiliates, but broader (e.g. Knights of Labor were affiliated)
The movement to unionization: The early years (pre-1900)

The Knights of Labor…A different kind of union

Founded in Philadelphia (1869), initially as a secret society

Guiding principles
§ Believed in representing skilled and unskilled labour

§ Opposed strikes

§ Sought to establish cooperative businesses operates by union members

§ Contrasts with the AFL’s business unionism approach
The movement to unionization: The struggle (1900-1920)

The struggle to form unions in the early 1900s was characterized by:
- Large strikes
- A deepening divide in the labour movement
- Rapid economic development
- World War 1 (1914-1918)

The momentum to build the labour movement was maintained by key confrontations
with employers throughout this period, coupled with new forms of unionism
(increasingly militant and encompassing broader categories of workers)
 The movement to unionization: The struggle (1900-1920)

§ The Berlin Convention (1902)

§ The TLC ejected unions that did not share the AFL’s
vision, creating a deep divide in the labour
movement

§ Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (IDIA)

§ Established a “cooling off” period by requiring
conciliation prior to a strike or lock-out

§ Winnipeg General Strike (1919)

Picture of police standing off against the protestors
Source: Manitoba Museum,
https://manitobamuseum.ca/main/manitoba-museum-
commemorates-100th-anniversary-of-winnipeg-general-strike/
§ A highly solidaristic strike by over 30,000 workers
from different occupations supporting the metal
trades and building trades
§ Built on momentum to build class solidarity through
“One Big Union”
§ Sympathy strikes spread to other big cities
§ Led to prison sentences for many strike leaders
The movement to unionization: The struggle (1900-1920)

Building solidarity through One Big Union (OBU) (founded in 1919)

§ A subset of unionists voted to separate from the TLC

§ The new organization embraced guiding principles to achieve an ambitious social

agenda:
§ Focused on organizing all workers
§ Embraced social movement unionism (broader societal change)
§ Strong ties to the Socialist Party of Canada (SPC)

§ Origins trace to the Knights of Labor and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
§ The union flourished very briefly, but kept the momentum towards the expansion of
industrial unionism and comprehensive rights to collective bargaining
The movement to unionization: Decline and resurrection (1930s
and 1940s)

The foundation of the Canadian model is largely inspired by US

legislation
§ The National Labor Relations Act (i.e. Wagner Act) was introduced by
American Senator Robert Wagner in 1935.
§ Influenced by the Great Depression (commenced in 1929)

§ This law greatly influenced Canadian labour law and has been
replicated in the provinces.
The movement to unionization: Decline and resurrection (1930s
and 1940s)

Core stipulations of the Wagner Act:

1. Created an independent agency to enforce rights to collective bargaining
(National Labor Relations Board – NLRB)
2. Employers were required to bargain with certified unions
3. Restricted unfair labour practices (e.g. disciplining workers for union
activity, bargaining with workers over their unions)
4. Gave the NLRB power to order remedies for employer violations of the act
(pay back, employee reinstatement)
5. Enforced doctrine of exclusivity (bargaining with one union selected by a
majority of workers)
6. Encouraged collective bargaining
The movement to unionization: Decline and resurrection (1930s
and 1940s)

Importing the Wagner model to Canada

§ The Wartime Labour Relation Regulation (P.C. 1003) (1944) replicated the Wagner
Act federally, was significant in triggering the spread of Wagner-like legislation
throughout Canada
§ + mechanisms for handling workplace disputes throughout collective agreements (i.e.
grievance procedures)
§ + conciliation procedures prior to strikes
§ Wasn’t the first jurisdiction to adopt Wagner-like legislation (Nova Scotia was)

§ The Rand Formula followed

§ Based on Supreme Court of Canada Justice Ivan Rand’s interpretation of an arbitration
decision
§ Requires automatic due checkoffs for union and non-union employees
The movement to unionization: Decline and resurrection (1930s
and 1940s)

§ Since US unions were highly influential in Canada, the separation of

the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) from the AFL also
played a big role in the formation of contemporary unionism
§ The CIO embraced industrial unionism (organizing all workers in an industry,
regardless of trade).
§ The TLC followed the AFL’s lead
§ Industrial unionism flourished as a result
§ It formed in 1935, but split in 1938 to become a rival federation
Trends in unionization: Reconciliation and expansion into the
public sector (1950s and 1960s)

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)

§ Founded in response to a merger of the AFL and CIO
§ Merged the industrial-based CCL and trade-based TLC
§ Reflected compromises in social and business unionism
§ Embraced broad social reform agenda and links to newly formed NDP
§ Partially an outcome of McCarthyism in the United States

§ Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) (1967)

§ Initiated federally, marked a trend extending collective bargaining rights to the public
sector
§ Public sector unions flourished
Trends in unionization: Changing Relationships with
Governments and the United States (1970s and 1980s)

New pressures on collective bargaining arose

§ Wage and price controls (e.g. Trudeau’s Anti-Inflation Board)
§ Conflicted with rights to collectively bargain wages

§ Free Trade Agreements

§ Exposed unionized workers to low-cost labour pressures abroad
§ The North American Free Trade Agreement (1994) was perhaps the most hotly contested of
them. United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) may be an improvement, yet flaws
persist

Canadian unions exhibit nationalism

§ More critical of linkages with American economy
§ Move towards Canadian oriented unions
§ Especially the emergence of the Canadian Auto Workers (split from the United Auto Workers)
Trends in unionization: Increased resistance (1990s)

Changing structures of local and global markets

§ High inflation and job loss

§ Shifts towards public austerity in government policymaking

§ Including privatization, especially crown corporations (Petro-Canada, Air Canada, Canadian National
Railway, Canadair – assets now owned by Bombardier)

§ Government interventions in collective bargaining

§ Such as back-to-work legislation (often in response to wage constraints)

§ Increased collective protect

§ Decrying working conditions and shifts in public policy
Trends in unionization: Increased restructuring (2000s and
beyond)

Facing fundamental transformations in the economy

§ Continued economic restructuring
§ E.g. Continuity in loss of manufacturing jobs

§ Policymakers continue to restrain public spending

§ Rise of non-standard work

§ E.g. part-time, independent contractors, etc.

§ Gig work
§ E.g. Uber

§ Collective protect continues

§ Little shift away from neoliberal turn
Source: https://www.toronto.com/news-story/6410375-
toronto-plans-to-introduce-new-regulations-that-may-end-
conflict-between-taxi-drivers-and-uber/
Summary

Key historical shifts

1. Shifts in unionism
§ From craft-unionism, to industrial unionism, to union decline and a search for
renewal

2. Shifts in legislation
§ From discouraging collective bargaining, to encouraging it, to an outmoded
model (less useful to workers + exhibits gaps in the workforce)

3. Shifts in the structure of the economy

§ Away from full-time and standard work
§ Decline in manufacturing, to growth in service work and the digital economy
§ Key reason why union membership grows, but not in proportion to workforce
Thank you for your participation!

20