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During the 1920s and early 1930s the struggle for industrial unionism in the Canadian auto industry was predominantly organized and led by Communist Party members. They, however, had little success with workers whose enjoyment of unusually high industrial wages was tempered by the knowledge that they themselves were almost as replaceable and interchangeable as the parts they assembled. An upswing of industrial militancy in the 1928-9 boom suggested that "Fordism" was not immutable, but any possibility of establishing a "red" auto union disappeared with the arrival of the Depression. Nevertheless, during the grimmest crisis years, Communists kept the idea of industrial unionism alive, and in semi-clandestine conditions built a network of union activists. The formation of the CIO and UAW gave this group the opportunity to turn their aspirations into reality.