Union Power

by Patrias, Carmela; Savage, Larry

• ISBN13: 9781926836782
• ISBN10: 1926836782
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-19
• Publisher: Athabasca Univ

Summary

From factory workers in Welland to retail workers in St. Catharines, from hospitality workers in Niagara Falls to migrant farm workers in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Union Power showcases the role of working people in the Niagara region. Charting the development of the region#146;s labour movement from the early nineteenth century to the present, Patrias and Savage illustrate how workers from this highly diversified economy struggled to improve their lives both inside and outside the workplace. Including extensive quotations from interviews, archival sources, and local newspapers, the story unfolds, in part, through the voices of the people themselves: the workers who fought for unions, the community members who supported them, and the employers who opposed them.Early industrial development and the appalling working conditions of the often vulnerable common labourer prompted a movement toward worker protection. Patrias and Savage argue that union power -- power not built on profit, status, or prestige -- relies on the twin concepts of struggle and solidarity: the solidarity of the shared interests of the working class and the struggle to achieve common goals. Union Power traces the evidence of these twin concepts through the history of the Niagara region#146;s labour movement.

Author Biography

Carmela Patrias is a professor in the Department of History at Brock University. Her publications include Jobs and Justice: Fighting Discrimination in Wartime Canada, 1939-1945 and Discounted Labour: Women Workers in Canada, 1870-1939, co-authored with Ruth Frager. Larry Savage is associate professor of labour studies and political science and director of the Jobs and Justice Research Unit at Brock University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
List of Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Canallers Fight for Work and Fair Wages	p. 8
The Early Labour Movement	p. 10
Class and Ethnicity in the Early Twentieth Century	p. 16
Labour Revolt in Niagara	p. 25
Welfare Capitalism in Niagara	p. 34
Unemployment and Organization During the Great Depression	p. 40
The Crowland Relief Strike	p. 42
The Cotton Mill Strike, 1936-37	p. 45
The Monarch Strike	p. 51
The CIO at McKinnon Industries	p. 54
Fighting for Democracy on the Home Front, 1939-45	p. 56
Niagara Labour's Cold War	p. 67
Women and Workers of Colour in the 1950s and 1960s	p. 74
Ideologies Clashing: The 1970 UAW Strike	p. 81
Strike Wave: 1972-76	p. 84
Canadian Pulp and Paper Workers Fight Back	p. 89
Corporate Restructuring and Labour's Decline	p. 91
The Eaton's Strike: Women Workers Walk the Line	p. 95
"Don't Lower the Standard": The Newsroom on Strike	p. 99
Occupation in Thorold	p. 102
Labour Builds Brock: Unions and the University	p. 105
Living in a Dying Town: Deindustrialization in Welland	p. 117
"Kicking Ass for the Working Class": Hotel Workers in Niagara	p. 124
The House Advantage: Organizing Niagara's Casinos	p. 149
Migrant Farm Workers in Niagara	p. 164
Organized Labour and the New Democratic Party in Niagara	p. 172
Conclusion	p. 184
Notes	p. 187
Index	p. 203
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