The Union Local Was a Crucial Driving Force for Canadas Working Class - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review Various studies have shown that the experience of Canada’s working went through some intense changes for half a century from the end of World War II. In his book Our Union, Jason Russell describes how the union local was a crucial driving force for Canada’s working class as it tried to get itself a new standing. He uses UAW/CAW Local 27 to bring forth a union membership in Ontario that broke the ground in unions’ political and social agendas (Russell 17). He explains how wages rose, working hours dropped, and income allowed better schools for children, better homes and consumer spending for workers. This paper will address how Jason Russell perceives the role of a local union in the development and growth of its members. The book accommodates different mindsets from the federal provisions to its corresponding provincial equals. It will also show how a reader is better placed to understand Canadian labor and business history after reading Our Union. As the writer highlights, the book is derived from both the activism for years of membership and curiosity aroused by academics. Due to its complex form, Local 27 was not like many other large scale unions found in Canada. In spite of its unique nature, it offers a description of what was done in the years after the war, and the period’s forming forces. It does not overlook the significance of rank and file workers. It is, therefore, bound to reflect the views of both labor historians and the people they represent. The writer acknowledges that changes have been there between the 1950s and 1990s after George Specht forced Eaton Auto to London from Windsor. In the aspect of describing the conception and development of Local 27, the book fits the course coverage both in history and political science. Local 27 developed from an average sized bargaining body to include diversified units in type and size. He also acknowledges that a local union is an end result of numerous influences and, thus, multidimensional. In the first chapter, he attempts to bring out the difficulties of forming Local 27 and the key influences its development gains or losses from. The writer provides the reader with information on how Local 27, initially a large and significant local in an international setting and then back to national, grew from grassroots activism. The reader is given an insight on who guided the local’s policies and attempted to lead it. The writer takes time to delve into how Local 27 tolerated and handled rebellion as well as immigrants’ influx into Canada after World War II. Women’s entry into blue collar jobs is also addressed, including the extent to which working class members were allowed direct participation. At the end of the chapter, the reader is well versed that the local was built to last (Russell 35). Even if the United Auto Workers (UAW) and subsequently Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) played significant parts, in the long run; Local 27 was ultimately the grassroots activists’ result. As the book indicates, Canadian UAW representatives were with the local beginning from its founding and all the way through the expansion up to the 1980s. There were frequent co ordinations between the local international, and national, union offices about wider issues on policy, constitutional and negotiations matters. The writer offers an insight on what the co ordinations were about and whether the local followed general union policies. There is a fact bearing aspect on the extent international and national offices shaped Local 27 and how the locals took advantage of the training programs offered by CAW and UAW. It becomes clear that although the national and international offices were not on top of the priority agenda of the local, they considerably influenced Local 27. The local might not have been racially diverse, but it was made up of a mixed background. Majority of Local 27’s member were brought up in London, although with family roots in Canada and European countries. Their common bond was a family background of the working class, hence similar experiences in life, but not necessarily from union workers. A good number of them lived in the industrial parts of London, went to schools that gave vocational training and opted for industrial jobs when seeking employment. Local 27 grew to become a stepping stone into employment after completing school. The reader is made to understand that a central part of activists formed the foundation of the local, and they became its primary influence towards progress between 1950 and 1990. Workers from Eaton Auto were the first to take part in activism although some remained in the affairs of the union even after the local’s formation (Russell 38). Activists like Al Campbell who came later, established the internal structure of the local. With their help, new bargaining units were organized, news were written and printed, political campaigns were conducted and membership activities towards strengthening the organization were organized. They pioneered the foundations of the effective local organization. A large part of discussions and policies that were undertaken in UAW’s Region 7 post World War II were explicitly political. Although the discussions contained predominantly Leftist caucuses, they accommodated the political spectrum. The politically diversified activists were more avidly encompassed in talks about what the local ought to have done the members. This debate made the local a suitable outfit organization for the grassroots. The leadership of UAW agonized over the control of Local 27 Leftists while trying to make out who were for the administration and against it, but the local’s members supported the local leftists. Although they did not always agree with the politics practiced by Al Campbell, they acknowledged the fact that he would always defend them tirelessly. The interactions of Local 27’s members and its relations with employers defined its being. Union membership was granted by employment status, or lack thereof. People could also organize their own units of bargaining and strategize their way into membership. The closure of a plant dictated loss of membership whereas organizing a new plant successfully saw many new members joining the ranks of the local. This, according to Jason Russell, made relations with employers a critical development for the local in the period after World War II. The workplace became a contested territory occupied by the workers but owned by the employers. People took advantage to forge identities both as union members and workers. The writer tells of how Local 27 arranged the places of work and the work that took place in them. He dwells on deindustrialization as a factor and the employee’s response to the local. He touches on the success of the organization of the local and its interaction with employers’ relation to the labor literature of post World War II. Instead of letting Local 27 drown into a dramatic wash out, the leadership of the Canadian UAW opted to make known and control groups against and for the administration. The political agenda of the local was aligned gradually with the broader policies of the UAW, forming a closer association with the administration of the national union that coincided with more activists of Local 27 joining the UAW staff. The writer also tells of how local activists closed ranks with members criticized by the leadership of UAW other union members. Nevertheless, staff representatives that formed a segment of the administration of UAW and gave their support to local activists’ decisions, had positions ranging between the local and national office. Regardless of the differences between the national and local leadership’s agendas, Local 27 predominantly supported the objectives of the national union’s policies. However, its members were against control of prices and wages, liberalization of trade and wanted an independent Canadian autoworkers’ union created. Although the writer points out that it is not intended to prove false the views articulated by historians like Don Wells or Steven Meyer, he makes it known that rigorous alterations took place in other places in the UAW’s post war years (Russell 59). Such alterations resulted in creation of many other locals by the UAW national office, for example, Local 707. With this, he attempts to show that the dealings between UAW administration and Local 27 were not consistent or without misgivings, and, therefore, so were the interactions between the UAW administration and all the other locals. The dealings got complex and depended on the involved people’s personalities. So far, the reader already has an understanding of Canada’s labor and business history. The reader is further given the goings on of the labor movement by the marked impact of the loss of the Left caucus. The caucus disappeared gradually through a mixture of events. They included deaths of its activists, loss of jobs and consciously made decisions by member to become inactive in politics. However, the change of activism’s nature in the1970s did not mark its end all together. Rather, it saw the entrance of women into most, if not all, of Local 27’s units of bargaining. Women made up the new nucleus of activists and took over the cause of representation in the grassroots. As the writer reveals, their role was not short of suffering from gender discrimination and workplace challenges. Just like women were supported in other locals, the Left supported the women in Local 27. The women in the forefront in the fight against gender discrimination were Julie White, Georgina Anderson, Beulah Harrison and Edith Johnston. Part of their debates was made up of the local’s policies and structures. They built a hall that served as the administrative hub and debates’ forum. It also became home to most of the activists who had built it and were running it. This shows how the activists worked in a large, complex local union standing for a wide range of bargaining units. The writer shows how, with the organization of new bargaining units, Local 27 was brought into touch with employers. However, he stresses that the real process of labor relations started after an agreement on collective bargaining was settled. In the postwar period, relations between employers and unions were handled via collective bargaining, which was regulated legally but full of shortcomings. Some of the shortcomings pointed out in collective bargaining include lockouts and strikes. Administering of agreements in labor management and negotiating turned out to be the prevailing activities in the process. Commentary After reading the book, the reader is in a better position to understand Canadian labor and business history. This is because a vivid encounter of the participants and the roles they played, both cases of failure and success, is given. The book describes the politics involved in forming and running a union, with some of the underlying attributes let to the reader to decipher for better understanding. From the readers’ point of view, it is clearly noticeable that although union politics may often get gruesome, the file and rank workers need them for their own good in the industry. All the activists in the local impacted on its development, and those in leadership positions grew its outline in the national union. However, it raises questions as to why the local’s membership grew and reported accomplishment in the workplace but had challenges in advancing a social agenda. The community may have held part of the answer. In the decades after World War II, London grew and provided the rank and file members of the union access to an array of activities that may have been more appealing than the union hall’s events. After fighting an unabated fight to have their own union, Local 27’s members did not live a life of accumulating goods in their North American consumer neighborhoods. So long as one had the income to afford purchasing, the North American culture provided the experience. The state provided them with important services and the union encouraged them to take part in societal consumerism outside the union hall and workplace. Membership of the rank and file was, therefore, more of using the union to access most of the workplace’s advantages and full participation in society. The structure of the local can thus be summarized as a source of both strength and weakness. It was able to organize and grow new bargaining units as well as create challenges for the members, such as going through major strikes and closure of plants. Works Cited Russell, Jason. Our Union: UAW/CAW Local 27 from 1950 to 1990. Edmonton: AU Press, 2011. Print. Read More