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The Communist Party of Canada's (CPC) attempts to operate the United Front tactics laid down by Lenin and the Comintern in 1920-22 foundered on the CPC's failure to come to terms with the profound character of labour's post-war defeat or with its own marginality. The task of creating a mass party capable of leading, in the not-too-distant future, a revolutionary struggle for power encouraged the CPC to ignore the laborious and modest process of building support around small workplace issues and to prefer working through a spurious united front organization, the Trade Union Educational League, which was little more than a mouthpiece for a succession of abstract propaganda campaigns. When none of these propelled the party to mass status, but rather drove a wedge between it and the Trades and Labour Congress, the ground was prepared for acceptance of the diametrically opposite tactics of the "Third Period", which with much justice have been criticised for their political stupidity. The tardiness with which the CPC applied them underlined the fact that, however much the leaders of the labour movement might have "betrayed" the rank and file, it was hard to see them as "social fascists" who had to be combatted with even more vigour than that usually reserved for the bosses. From the beginning, when they terminated an interesting alliance between the CPC and national unionism, to the end, when they retarded the CPC's recognition of the possibilities opened up by the emergence of the CIO, these tactics had negative consequences. Yet they also helped bring limited political gains for the CPC, which entered the latter half of the 1930s stronger than it had ever been, and organizational advances for the Canadian working class, in the shape of at least the first few bricks in the foundations of mass industrial unionism. In addition, the complementary unemployed movement mobilized tens of thousands of workers and their families against the asperities of the depression. By 1936, the CPC had undeniably "carved out" for itself, a decent niche in the labour movement.

This thesis examines the role of women in Canadian socialist parties from the 1920's to the post-World War II period, by focusing on women involved in the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the primary manifestations of organized socialism during these years. Concentrating on two regions, Ontario and the West, the thesis explores three major themes: the distinct role women played within each Party, the Party's view of the woman question, and the construction of women's committees within each Party. The thesis explains why women were drawn to the socialist movement, assesses the successes and failures of each Party's program for women's equality, and suggests how and when feminist and socialist ideas intersected within the Canadian Left. The written history of the Canadian Left has largely neglected socialists' views of the woman question and women's role in the CPC and CCF. Although 'women were concentrated in less powerful positions, they did play an important, and distinctive, role in the making of Canadian socialism. Moreover, attention to women's social and economic inequality was a concern of Canadian socialists. Between 1920 and 1950, however, women's emancipation was never a priority for socialists. This thesis explains some of the reasons, both internal and external to the movement, for the secondary status of the woman question. Because the CCF and CPC emerged from different ideological traditions, their views of the woman question varied, and this thesis contrasts the two Parties' definition of women's issues and their commitment to women's emancipation. At the same time, there were some similarities between the two Parties, such as their attempts to link women's maternal and domestic roles with their political consciousness. The thesis also suggests ways on which socialists' ideas resembled the earlier ideology of womanhood and reform termed 'maternal feminism' and how their ideas, shaped by a different class perspective and social context, differed from the earlier feminists.

This social history traces the English-language Canadian labour press from 1842 to 1900. It focuses on the role labour newspapers played in battling the appalling social conditions of Victorian Canada,and analyzes their successes and failures in trying to improve the lives of working-c1ass Canadians. Although the original theoretical framework called for a survey of the effects of labour journalism on the passage of progressive social legislation, little such legislation appeared on statute books before 1900.The thesis therefore attempts to show how the papers presented social issues in housing, health, welfare, employment,social security and several other key social development areas,through the use of anecdotal evidence and, the critical assessment of the opinions of historians. The underlying theoretical assumption of the thesis was that labour papers would provide a progressive view on all social issues.Although this image did not always prove true, the thesis does unearth evidence of the role of the labour press in the development of a mass working-clas sconsciousness and the creation of a unique working-class culture.The thesis further attempts to show how labour editors of the late 1800s were the pioneers of a radical intellectual and journalistic tradition which found expression in the weekly journals that represented the fledgling Canadian labour movement.

This thesis originated in my curiosity over the last decade or more, as to the fate of the "golden age" of labour radicalism in Winnipeg after the First World War. As a radical and trade unionist I wanted to understand why this radicalism declined so drastically over the half century to the leve1s it existed in the city's unions in 1969 when I first got involved in the labour movement. The logical place to start looking for answers was the decade following the general strike and preceding the depression of the thirties. In researching and writing this thesis I have found some answers, although they have seldom been simple, about the effects of the twenties on union radicalism. The task has been made more difficult and at the same time more stimulating by the almost total lack of work by labour historians on the twenties. To the extent that the period has been dealt with at all it was as a prelude to the great depression and the rise of the C.I.O. in Canada, or as a postscript to work on labour and radicalism before and during the post war upsurge and in Winnipeg, the general strike...

British Columbia has an undistinguished history of racial discrimination against ethnic minorities, most notably against "Asiatics", such as the Chinese, the Japanese and East Indians. Members of these "visible" minorities were allowed into the province in the past as cheap labo

Jacob Lawrence Cohen was a prominent Canadian labour and civil rights lawyer in the 1930's and 1940's. Cohen was instrumental in negotiating a number of landmark labour disputes that helped pioneer legislation in Canada. He also defended a number of trade unionists, many of whom were Communist, imprisoned under the War Measures Act. His staunch defense of society's underdogs brought him a great deal of respect and notoriety. Cohen's career reflected many of the tensions of Canadian society in the period. The growth of industrial unionism, the development of progressive labour legislation and a growing fear of Communism, all touched him professionally and personally. His brilliant career ended abruptly in 1946 after his conviction of assault. His trial raises a number of questions about the judicial system. After a four year struggle in the courts, Cohen's law practice resumed in 1950 but he failed to regain his former prominence. He died in May 1950. J.L. Cohen had a great impact in developing and fighting for progressive labour laws to deal with the changing society of the 1930's and the 1940's. He was in the centre of a turbulent period in Canadian history as counsel in diverse and unpopular legal cases. Many of his struggles helped legitimize the aspirations of the labour movement and develop the legal and jurisdictional regulations that govern all trade unions today.

The focus of this thesis is the Liberal government's program of mandatory wage and price controls introduced on October 14, 1975. Beginning with a brief discussion of the marxist theory of the state, the thesis examines prior experiences with wage restraint programs, the evolution of post-war industrial relations, and the emergence of symptoms of economic crisis toward the end of the 1960's. Thereafter it considers the progress of state efforts to introduce wage/ price restraint, the social forces which shaped the pattern of state intervention, the actual operations of the Anti-Inflation Board, and the character of organised labour's opposition to compulsory controls. The thesis argues that state intervention into the sphere of wage bargaining is one concrete example of the deeper contradictions which lie at the basis of the state structure. With the end of the long boom of post-war expansion, the underlying tendencies toward a crisis of capital accumulation became manifest. The deteriorating effectiveness of established techniques of economic management, and the failure of the Liberal government to develop a coherent program of capitalist planning set the immediate context for the program of wage and price controls. The objective of controls was to restrict the rate of wage increases, thereby easing the downward trend in profit levels and relaxing the fiscal crisis of the state. The record of the Anti-Inflation Board revealed two general characteristics of the current economic and social crisis. First, the capitalist state is virtually powerless to exercise any influence over the long term pattern of inflation and slump. At the present stage of capitalism, attempts to plan economic development simply exacerbate the inherent anarchy of capitalist production. Second, the weakness of organised labour's opposition to controls indicates the urgent necessity for a restructuring of the economic and political organisation of the working class in order to defend the economic and social gains of the postwar period.

During the Depression Canadian workers faced a series of assaults on their wages and working conditions. Threatened by shrinking markets, Canadian employers moved to reduce labour costs. When the Canadian Western Lumber Company at Fraser Mills, B.C., attempted to follow the pattern being set throughout the Canadian economy, the millworkers went out on strike. Lasting for two and half months, the labour protest by the millworkers and their families ended in success. The success of the 1931 strike stands in sharp contrat to the generally abysmal performance of organized labour during the thirties. The strength of this particular protest was derived from two totally unrelated factors. The strike was led by the militant Lumber Workers' Industrial Union, an affiliate of the Workers' Unity League. During the thirtiees the Workers' Unity League was one of the most dynamic labour organizations in Canada. The real strength of the protest, however, lay in features to the community. The worker community of Maillardville/Fraser Mills was remarkably stable and socially cohesive. This was largely due to the existence of a persistant, tightly organized community of French-Canadian workers. The workforce at Fraser Mills had a well-defined associational network which not only faciliated organization prior to the strike but also ensured its success once the strike was underway. This study of the Fraser Mills strike of 1931 analyzes the relationship between labour protest and the community from which it emerged.

This study of CAIMAW's history attempts to explain why some Canadians in recent times have abandoned international unions to found and develop an independent Canadian union, to determine whether such an independent union is identifiably different from those unions traditionally operating in Canada, and to identify the factors that operate in favour and mitigate against the success of Canadians in their attempt to create and develop such a union. Personal interviews with the major figures related to this study comprise an essential source of information. Due to the cooperation extended by CAIMAW, a search of union files was conducted and constitutions, pamphlets, correspondence, newspaper articles, union publications and other relevant documents were examined. Published sources provided secondary information for the majority of this paper. A societal mood in the 1960's of labour militancy, uncertainty arising from adaptation to change, a desire for Canadian self-assertion, and a corresponding resentment of American influence in Canadian affairs combined to set the stage for the formation of breakaway independent Canadian unions in Winnipeg and Vancouver. Lack of control over their own affairs and the imposition on the membership of unpopular union decisions by international officers created unrest among these Winnipeg and Vancouver workers, and a demand for greater membership decision making authority. Refusal by the international unions involved to respond to this demand resulted in a coalition of union dissidents and nationalists in a common cause, the rejection of their international unions and the founding of their own, independent national unions. The merger of the Winnipeg and Vancouver breakaway unions gave rise to a constitutional battle seated in philosophical differences with overtones of regionalism. It was a struggle between business unionism and social unionism, and a corresponding struggle between centralized authority and local autonomy. The resolution of this struggle in the rejection of business unionism and centralized authority laid the foundations for the policies and practices of CAIMAW as it operates today. These policies and practices make CAIMAW a union that is identifiably different from traditional international unions in terms of greater decision-making power for the rank and file, different methods of bargaining, and a different organizational structure. These differences do not, however, appear to have hindered CAIMAW's ability to win benefits for its membership that are at least comparable to those won by international unions. An independent union such as CAIMAW faces difficulties in its formation and development due to the established place of international unions in Canadian labour institutions. But weaknesses within these institutions such as interunion and intraunion divisions have allowed CAIMAW to survive and, indeed, grow. CAIMAW can draw support from union dissidents, nationalists and socialists of the New Left, groups which traditional labour institutions in Canada have failed to accommodate. To the extent that a society creates institutions in accordance with its needs, there exists an important place for CAIMAW in Canada.

This study sought to determine whether the St. Lawrence-Richelieu Teachers' Association (SRTA) was a union or a professional association. The question was tackled by subjecting the SRTA to various definitions of unionism and professionalism, and by examining the operational behaviour of the teacher organization in recent years. It was found that with respect to the definitions of the terms established in the thesis the SRTA cannot be called a union or a professional association per se. However, although the organization has exhibited traits of unionism and/or professionalism throughout its evolution, it is clear that the SRTA is today closer to a union than to a professional association.

Farm labourers formed an important segment of the agricultural work force in Alberta betweeen 1880 and 1930. The work they performed was arduous, poorly paid and insecure, but was accepted by most as a necessary first step toward farm ownership. During the early years of settlement, the perception of farm labour as an apprenticeship was confirmed by the ready availability of agricultural land. But settlement expansion in the years before the First World War greatly reduced opportunities for farm ownership, leading to a redefinition of hired workers. By the 1920s, they were no longer farm apprentices but an agricultural proletariat. At the same time, rapid agricultural development and a number of social and economic changes led to a relative decline in their working and living conditions. There was almost no attempt by farm workers to resist these changes. Despite their importance within the agricultural work force, a number of formal and informal constraints made it difficult for them to challenge their deteriorating position. Hampered by isolation, economic pressures and government controls, farm workers were above all restrained by their own inability to recognize that the perception of their position as farm apprentices was no longer valid.

This thesis is the study of class relations within a dependent capitalist environment. Upon defining the conceptual and geographical basis for this study, an explanatory framework is advanced which borrows from C.B. Macpherson and the work of numerous theorists of the dependency school. A detailed historical analysis of the external structures of domination, the corporation and the trade union, the internal dynamics of social change, and the dominated class of the petite bourgeoisie and the working class, is offered. In the process of our analysis, an alternate interpretation for the rise of Social Credit in Quebec during the 1960s is offered.

This study traces the development of the collective bargaining process for teaching personnel tram 1964 to 1969 in the Protestant Education System of Quebec and describes the effects that this development had on the Quebec Association of Protestant School Boards (QAPSB) and the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers of Quebec (PAPT). The study includes an analysis of certain sections of the Education Act and other legislation sanctioned by Quebec's Legislative Assembly dealing with the collective bargaining process as it relates to school boards and teachers. The following questions are addressed in this study: 1) to what extent did the Government of Quebec change its participation in the process of determining conditions of employment for teachers during the period from 1964 to 1969; 2) in what respects did the QAPSB and PAPT redefine their respective approaches to the establishment of conditions of employment for teachers; 3) what aspects did QAPSB and PAPT reorganize internally and to what degree did they establish formaI liason between themselves and their Roman Catholic counterparts at the Provincial level?

This thesis examines the labour market experience of Chinese post-war immigrants in Montreal's ethnic and general labour markets. It provides empirical information on the Chinese ethnic labour market in Montreal and assesses the theoretical relevance of the distinction of an ethnic labour market from the general labour market for the understanding of the socio-economic attainment of immigrants in Canada. The findings reveal significant segmental differences in the composition of the labour force, employment characteristics, mobility patterns, and monetary returns to human capital investment. These indicate the distinctiveness of the ethnic labour market and provide support for Wiley's (1968) thesis of the ethnic mobility trap. Theoretical implications of these findings for studies of occupational achievements of immigrants in Canada are discussed.

Recent attempts to extend Marx's analysis of capitalism by developing a class-based theory of the role and functions of the capitalist state have turned on the debate between the "instrumentalist" and "structuralist" perspectives. Subsequent critiques and extensions of these two conceptions of the relations between the state and the major classes within capitalist society have raised the issues of the role of class struggle in the development of state structure and policy as well as the impact of the capitalists state itself on the nature of class relations. Although theorists have pointed to the mutually conditioning effects characterizing the relationship between the state and social classes, there has bee little empirical examination of this relationship. The precise nature of the kinds of mechanisms linking various social classes and the state together with the concrete effects of these links on state and class relations required further specification. In response to this significant gap in the development of the theory of the capitalist state, the present research was formulated to address the issue of specifying the forms of mediation between the state, industrial capitalists and labour through an analysis of the history of maximum hours, minimum wage, and workmen's compensation legislation in Ontario between 1900 and 1939. These areas of legislation were chosen because of their significance, for both capitalists and workers; they represent a potential drain on accumulated surplus for owners of capital and a potential improvement in subsistence and working conditions for labour. The development of legislation in each of these areas thus provided a focus for examining relations between owners of industrial capital, wage labour, and the state. The major sources of data for the primary analysis covering the period from 1900 to 1939 consisted of private papers, published and unpublished government documents located in the Public Archives of Ontario and the Public Archives of Canada, labour newspapers, and the journal of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association. The analysis of relations between workers, employers, and the state around limitations on working hours, minimum wage regulation, and the establishment of a workmen's compensation program identifies a number of modes by which capitalist domination in the workplace is mediated to the level of political relations. These modes of mediation function through mutually reinforcing economic, political and ideological forms and have as their primary effect the frustration of the political organization of labour as a class. Capitalist modes of mediation are parallelled and supported by the modes of mediation adopted by the state in its role of managing class relations. In the process of the development of the areas of legislation which are the focus of this study, the state functioned to maintain the hegemony of capitalist social relations of production by transforming the economic class struggle and processing labour demands in such a way that subsequent state policy and structure were guided in the direction of comparability with prevailing class relations of domination and subordination.

Throughout its history the Newfoundland Federation of Labour has pursued two primary goals - to spread trade union organization and to lobby government to adopt legislation favourable to the interests of working people. The degree to which the Federation has been successful has depended upon the quality and dedication of its leadership, economic conditions and the willingness of government to be influenced. An unstable, rural economy delayed the emergence of a Newfoundland Labour Movement until the mid-1930s. Once it did emerge, however, Newfoundland workers responded enthusiastically. The NFL's founding meeting in 1937 at Grand Falls was followed by a country-wide organizing drive. Despite a six year lull caused by World War II, by the late 1940s the Newfoundland labour force was the most highly operated in North America. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, however, Newfoundland trade unionists were unable to translate their numerical strength into political power. The explanation lies in a combination of the NFL's relationship to sections of the North American Labour Movement opposed to direct political action, divisions within the Newfoundland Labour Movement, and a set of political circumstances unique to Newfoundland. -- Although the NFL was a national labour central until Confederation with Canada in 1949, it was dominated by unions affiliated to the American Federation of Labour. The AFL's opposition to direct political action is well documented. However, in a country with strong ties to Great Britain the success of the British Labour Party provided an alternate model. Even so, there were only two serious attempts between 1937 and 1963 to emulate British practice. For the most part the NFL was less "political" than even the AFL. Initially this was because from 1933 to 1949 Newfoundland was governed by a commission of civil servants appointed by Britain. In a country without a system of electoral politics, direct political action did not seem a pressing concern. When electoral politics were restored and J.R. Smallwood became premier of Canada's tenth province, Smallwood granted the NFL almost every request it made for legislative reform. As a result the NFL saw no need to develop an independent political base in order to guarantee its influence with government. The fault with this approach was demonstrated during the IWA Strike of 1959. Smallwood suddenly turned against the Federation and without a political base of its own the NFL was powerless to protect the interests of Labour. Smallwood's subsequent attacks on the NFL sent it into a ten year period of decline; however, it is the thesis of this dissertation that the NFL's failure to give sufficient weight to the changed environment brought about by the return to electoral politics was as much the cause of its decline as any external factor.

This thesis deals with the working class of two advanced capitalist countries and focuses upon ideological conflict within working class organizations such as trade unions and political parties. The outcome of such conflicts within working class organizations is considered to be an expression of the state of working class consciousness at a given time. Within this broad context particular attention is paid to the ideology of social democracy which has been dominant in working class organizations in both countries during the modern period albeit to different degrees. The thesis uses a comparative approach and pays considerable attention to the interaction between the working class and its societal environment- the political economies of the two countries, the activities of the capitalist class and the impact of its ideology upon the working class. Using this approach the thesis deals with the emergence of social democracy as the hegemonic working class ideology, its main features particularly as they were developed in the post-war period, the emergence of possible contradictions between social democratic parties and ideology, and their working class supporters, and, utilizing an historical analysis of previous ideological shifts in working class organisations, the possibility of social democracy being superceded in its hegemonic role is considered. In dealing with such matters the issues of nationalization and incomes policies were judged to be especially salient and are discussed in some detail. In the course of this study theories which posited an end to ideological conflict in the advanced capitalist societies are considered and rejected. The past, present and future of social democracy, of ideological conflict, and of the working class itself, was found to be considerably more dynamic, complex and open to change than such theories had imagined.

Coal mining in nineteenth century British Columbia was confined almost exclusively to the tidewater coal measures of Vancouver Island where it was expanded rapidly from 1871 to 1891. This dissertation's purposes are to describe the coal industry's rise, account for its fast growth in the seventies and eighties, and assess the coal trade's general impact upon the region's economy. The approach is thematic, focusing in turn upon coal lands, capital, management, labour, technology, markets, production, and productivity. Standard research, organization, and interpretation methods for economic history are followed, including thorough descriptive use of statistical data. Comparisons are intensive and far-reaching, resulting in a close-knit framework upon which important conclusions are based. No effort has been made, however, to offer extensive biographical information on the coal trade's leading personalities. These studies confirm the coal industry's rapid expansion, and determine that all factors of production can explain that phenomenon with a high degree of certainty, though market demand and management technique do so more readily than other agents. It is shown that management methods and styles evolved quickly, the most effective being the owner-manager type as practiced by Robert Dunsmuir, the industry's most successful proprietor. Risk capital was drawn from various sources, including mainly British direct investments, local savings, partnerships (often involving foreign investors), and ploughed-back profits. Entrepreneurs and promoters were active in attempting to develop coal properties from 1864 on, though only those highly experienced in mining and management succeeded. Chronic worker shortages, coupled with the physical problems associated with coal mining in mountainous terrain, forced coal operators to opt early for labour saving technology imported almost exclusively from Britain. The introduction of large numbers of Oriental colliers by Dunsmuir after 1870, (who were willing to work at half the wages whites would), slowed the technological advance of the industry, but not annual rates of production increases. Considerable friction between white workers and management resulted from the latter's initiatives with Oriental labour, while the owners' policy of severely restricting wage-rates caused further serious labour problems, including a high number of work stoppages. Mine safety, job security, and general working conditions also were contentious issues. B.C.'s early collieries relied heavily upon the California market which often was unsteady, but which accounted for approximately seventy-five percent of all sales during the years 1849-91. Domestic users were mainly shipping companies, light industry, and households. Much of the local market was handled at the pithead. The major coal companies streamlined their channels of distribution by opening their own sales offices in Victoria and San Francisco, and. in the case of Dunsmuir, by also building a collier fleet and a railway of his own. The coal industry had a major influence upon southern Vancouver Island's economy, but not a large impact upon the remainder of the province. No determined "attempts were made by coal proprietors or other capitalists to create secondary industries linked to coal production, though colliery owners did invest in land, transport, and retail-wholesale ventures designed either to service their mining activities or to diversify their personal holdings. Such moves occurred later-on, however, as the main thrust of their initial efforts was to establish and maintain the coal trade with California.

A vital element in 'the transformation of Québec society during the period of "la révolution tranquille" was the establishment of a modern education system. As the government of Québec took initiatives to remodel education, the Corporation des Enseignants du Québec (CEQ), the provincial Association of Protestant Teachers (PAPT), and the Provincial Association of Catholic Teachers (PACT), became more involved in the mainstream of Québec education. The scope of the teachers' associations' actions evolved, they grew as organizations, and they emerged as militant unions in Québec's work force. While the teachers' associations worked in isolation from one another at the beginning of the ten-year period, there was movement towards greater cooperation in the mid-sixties and there were constant contacts during the latter part of the decade: these contacts involved significant cooperation but the associations were also in conflict over several issues. Cooperation among the associations was most highly developed in relation to economic and labour relations concerns. Serious conflict arose over the issues of language, school board reorganization and membership jurisdiction.