Title: UAW CANADIAN REGIONAL OFFICE (REGION 7) Date: 1937-1970 (Predominantly 1955-1970) OCLC: |
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Scope & Contents
The historic UAW-Canada records and papers were received from the Canadian Regional Office of the UAW during the years 1969-1972. Various library materials were donated in 1980 and 1981; these are now part of the Archives library.
The UAW in Canada had its beginning during the same 1936 convention that was the start of the international union. The Kelsey Wheel Unit of Local 195 (Windsor) and the McKinnon Unit of Local 199 (St. Catharines) received their charters within three days of each other in late 1936. After the Ford of Canada plant was organized in 1941, General Motors and Chrysler recognized the union and many other companies followed suit.
Without the protection of the Wagner Act available to U.S. workers, Canadian unionists faced difficult problems organizing in the 1940s, which perhaps contributed to their reputation of being particularly militant. The union grew to be the largest national or international union in Canada.
The principle of union security was attained in 1945 after a strike by UAW Local 200, Windsor, at the Ford Motor Company of Canada. After this strike a Canadian judicial decision provided that all Canadian workers in the union's jurisdiction were subject to dues check-off. This was the well-known Canadian "Rand Formula".
The Canadian Regional Director is elected by Canadian delegates, and the Canadian UAW Council meets to recommend policy on Canadian matters, providing some autonomy for Canadian workers of the international union. Canadian Economic Conferences are held to examine particular problems for Canada. All of this is reflected in this regional collection.
The UAW has been known as "Canada's Trail-Blazing Union" because it was a pioneer in securing pensions (1950), a guaranteed annual wage (1955-56), pre-paid medical prescriptions (1964-1965) and wage parity (1967-1968).
The Canadian Regional office was established in Windsor, with sub-regional offices in Brantford, Chatham, Fort William, London, Oakville, Oshawa, Ottawa, St. Catharines, and Woodstock, all in Ontario, where there are the largest numbers in the union, as well as in Montreal and Winnipeg. In 1968 the main Canadian Regional office was moved to Toronto.
Canadian Regional Directors George Burt and Dennis McDermott are prominent in the papers of this collection. Burt was Canadian Director from 1939 until 1968, when Dennis McDermott took that office. Further information about the Canadian Region can be found in the Toronto Sub-Regional Office Collection, in the George Burt Collection, and in the papers of various union locals which are deposited in this Archives.
The following abbreviations for Canadian provinces other than Ontario have been used:
Alberta AB Manitoba MB
Quebec PQ Saskatchewan SK
Agreements and Master Agreements
Aircraft Industry
Arbitration
Auto Pact (U.S.-Canada)
Automation
Automobile Industry in Canada
Batelle Report on the Canadian Auto Industry
Canadian-American Committee
Canadian Congress of Labour
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian UAW Council
Collective Bargaining
Economics of Canada
Farm Equipment Industry
Health Services and Program
Labour Law in Canada
Manpower Analyses
New Democratic Party
Ontario Federation of Labour
Pensions
Plant Location and Re-Location
Political Action
Rand Formula (Agency Shop)
Royal Commission on the Automotive Industry
Skilled Trades
Strikes in Canada
Supplemental Unemployment Benefits
Trades and Labour Congress
Transitional Assistance Benefits
UAW Locals in Canada
Unemployment
Union Negotiations
Union Security
Wage Parity
Wage Rates
Windsor, Ontario
Women
Workers Education
The following list of correspondents includes most persons with at least five letters. Asterisks by the name denote particularly frequent letters.
Addes, George
Andras, A.
Archer, David
Bannon, Ken
Barber, Harvey
Beckham, William J.
Benson, Harry
Berniquez, Gerard
Bickell, Norman
Borovoy, A. Alan
* Burt, George
Cassey, Daniel
* Coburn, Carrol L.
* Courtney, Richard F.
DeAngelis, D.E.
Dodge, William
Douglas, Thomas C.
Edwards, Nelson Jack
Eldon, John
Fairchild, Frank
Forcey, Eugene
Ford, Harry
Fryer, John L.
Goldberg, Ted
Green, Stanley V.
Hartford, Jerry
Hiller, Joseph L.
* Jodoin, Claude
Johnston, Alfred A.
Kelly, Herbert
Kenny, Joseph B.
Lambert, Gordon L.
Lewis, David
MacBride, Ralph
* McDermott, Dennis
McDonald, Charles
McDonald, Donald
* MacLean, Thomas
Madar, Olga
Mahoney, William
Marchand, Jean
Marshall, William J.
Martin, Paul
* Mazey, Emil
Millard, C. H.
Moroz, Frank
Peacock, Hugh
Reuther, Victor
* Reuther, Walter P.
Rooney, Harry
Schlossberg, Steven I.
* Schroeder, Allen
Schultz, Arthur G.
Sheehan, Dilis
* Siren, Paul
Smith, Malcolm
Specht, George
Taylor, Jack
Todgham, Ron W.
Vassart, Maurice
White, Robert
* Woodcock, Leonard
Three large boxes of pamphlets published by UAW-Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress and the Ontario Federation of Labour (most, however, by UAW-Canada) were placed in the Archives library. International UAW pamphlets not relating specifically to Canada were also added to the library collection.
201 manuscript boxes
Series I, General File, 1937-1970, Boxes 1-48: Series I Box List
Correspondence, memoranda, research materials, clippings and other materials on subjects of interest to the Canadian UAW. To Series I Box List
Series II, Officers Files, 1939-1970, Boxes 49-67. Series II Box List
Subseries A: Officers' Files, Boxes 49-60; Series II A Box List
Subseries B: Correspondence of International Representatives, Boxes 60-67: Series II B Box List
Correspondence and other papers of union officials, including U.S. International UAW officers, the UAW-Canada directors and officers, and international representatives.
Series III, Councils, 1949-1970, Boxes 68-78. Series III Box List
Subseries A: Canadian UAW Council, 1940-1970, Boxes 68-73;
Subseries B: Other Councils, 1949-1970, Boxes 73-78: Series III B Box List
Includes various industry-wide councils, skilled trades, office workers, and retired workers councils. Materials in this series are comprised of reports, including directors' reports to councils, minutes, correspondence, research materials and memoranda.
Series IV, Union Locals, 1942-1970, Boxes 79-106. Series IV Box List
Subseries A: All Locals, 1941-1968, Boxes 79-81: To Series IV A Box List
Letters sent to each local, including international union letters and letters from officers including the Canadian directors.
Subseries B: Individual Locals, 1942-1968, Boxes 81‑106: Series IV B Box List
Correspondence, audits, agreements, negotiation papers, and other materials, in the files of Canadian locals.
Series V, Companies, 1937-1970, Boxes 107-185. Series V Box List
Subseries A: Companies, Boxes 107-170; Series V A Box List
Subseries B: Companies, Supplementary Unemployment Benefits, Boxes 171-183; Series V B Box List
Subseries C: Wage Rates, 1966, Boxes 184-185: Series V C Box List
Materials in the three subseries include reports, correspondence, research materials about the companies, and papers generated from union negotiations, including in some cases final agreements and master agreements. Subseries B is comprised solely of materials on supplementary unemployment benefits, although a few of the papers in Subseries A do include that subject. Subseries C is comprised of four large notebooks on 1966 wage rates, a part of the studies concerning U.S.‑Canadian parity on wages.
Series VI, Industries, Information and Clipping Files, 1955-1970, Boxes 186-189: Series VI Box List
A Research Department file mostly from the 1960s, including materials on the agricultural, aircraft, automobile, transportation and other industries, and on some subjects of general interest. Box 189 is a file of articles and reports, as listed.
Series VII, Labour Organizations, 1937-1970, Boxes 190-201. Series VII Box List
Subseries A: Canadian Labour Congress, Boxes 190-200; Series VII A Box List
Subseries B: The Ontario Federation of Labour, Boxes 200-201: Series VII B Box List
Correspondence, reports, minutes, memoranda and research materials relating to two important Canadian labour organizations and various union and political figures.
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