Community, Class, and Oshawa's UAW Local 222, 1944-49

The McLaughlin Legacy and the Struggle for Labour Organization: Community, Class, and Oshawa's UAW Local 222, 1944-49 A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Copyright by Christine McLaughlin 2007 Canadian Studies and Native Studies MA Programme January 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-37176-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-37176-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT The McLaughlin Legacy and the Struggle for Labour Organization: Community, Class, and Oshawa's UAW Local 222,1944-1949 Christine McLaughlin In 1937, working people in Oshawa organized under the banner of the UAW. Serving as corporate headquarters of General Motors of Canada, Oshawa prior to this had been a one-industry, company town. While efforts to control the city and its working population by the ruling elite escalated in the 1940s, such efforts were countered by organized workers' attempts to engage in collective action so as to improve conditions for the working classes. This thesis explores community service as it was mediated along class lines. Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, president and chairman of the board of General Motors of Canada, is well-known for his numerous charitable contributions. In exploring the roots of such charitable acts, I argue that they served the ultimate end of exerting social control over the city's working population. Alternately, through the medium of the UAW, a large segment of working men and women in the city engaged in collective service, ultimately transforming themselves from recipients of charity into active agents who substantially improved their lived existence. KEYWORDS: Oshawa, United Automobile Workers, Local 222, Ladies' Auxiliary 27, General Motors of Canada, R.S. McLaughlin, community service, social unionism. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people whose assistance and support made this possible, and for which the depth of my gratitude can never be aptly expressed. First and foremost, I must thank my supervisor, Bryan Palmer, and Joan Sangster, whose assistance, expertise, support, patience and goodwill I have benefited from on many occasions. My only regret is that the world is not filled with more of such people. It has been a privilege to have been graced with the honour of their association, and I can never fully convey the depth of my gratitude. I would also like to thank Dimitry Anastakis, who along with Bryan Palmer and Joan Sangster, comprised my committee, and my external examiner, Reuben Roth, of Laurentian University. The helpful commentary and insights I received were to my great benefit. In my time at Trent University, there have been many professors along the way who have offered much-needed and appreciated support. For this, I am very grateful to Robert Wright, Susan Wurtele and Julia Harrison, as well as all the professors at Trent whose tutelage I was able to enjoy. In addition, I would like to thank Winnie Janzen of the Frost Centre and Loretta Durst, Jane Millar and Kim McCormack from the Office of Graduate Studies. I would also like to express my appreciation to Donica Belisle, Ted McCoy and Wade Matthews for the encouragement and aid they offered throughout my time at Trent, and I owe a special thank you to Meaghan Beaton for never failing to provide a sympathetic ear, a good laugh and heightened spirits, encouragement, and for bringing me a piece of home when I was unable to get there myself. For so freely sharing her work with me, I would also like to thank Emily LaBarbera Twarog, a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois. iii Countless people in Oshawa very kindly went well out of their way to help me throughout this process, and I shall never forget the kindness I was shown again and again. I owe a very fervent thank you to the staff at the McLaughlin Public Library, Parkwood Estate and Guy House, particularly Jennifer Weymark and Nicole Patterson. I would have liked to thank General Motors of Canada here, however, given that I was denied access to their archives or any other assistance, I am unable to do so. I would be remiss if I did not thank R.S. and Adelaide McLaughlin for the contributions they made to civic life in Oshawa, and without which this end result would not have been possible. From my first contact with Local 222,1 was immediately made to feel like a part of the family. It is difficult to express the extent of my gratitude for this, and there are many people that I am incredibly thankful to have met. Bernard Heming, secretary- treasurer of the retiree's chapter, first showed me an unbelievable amount of kindness, generosity and trust. Without his willingness to help me, this work would not have materialized. Chris Buckley, president of Local 222, showed me an astonishing amount of trust by making all union records available to me at our first meeting. Jackie Finn, president of Ladies' Auxiliary 27, has been a great blessing to this project, and to her I extend my sincerest appreciation for all that she has done for me. Russ and Lynn Rak were also a great source of assistance to me, and I am very grateful to have made their acquaintance. My thanks are also owed to Joe Sarnovsky, editor of The Oshaworker, who offered critical assistance to me during my research. Joan Harrison, chair of Local 222's 70th Anniversary Committee, was both a fantastic means of support and a wonderful friend. The entire committee showed me a staggering amount of kindness and goodwill, and I will never forget the generosity of spirit they showed; my thanks to Les iv MacDonald, especially for the doubles, Doug Beers, Steve Bullock, Steve Conway, Phil Goodwin, George Hewison, who was a particular fountain of knowledge musically, Jim Kelly, Ted Lawrence, Angela Legere, Lisa Lindsay, Ed Ochej and Doug Wiley, along with those I have already mentioned. I would also like to thank Bev McCloskey, not only for being who she is, but also for allowing me the opportunity to engage in some social activism training. She was absolutely right when she told me that I could never truly know something until I had done it, and I am incredibly honoured to have met such an inspiring woman. I would also like to thank the busload of Local 222 members who I was rather overwhelmed to find myself responsible for on our trek to Ottawa. It was only by the cooperative spirit of collective management that we were able to remain true to our guiding pledge: 'Nobody Left Behind.' It was a critical phase of my education. Although space will not allow me to properly thank the many people I came across at Local 222 who never failed to offer a kind word or helping hand, please know that you all hold a special place in my heart. Among the many people at Local 222 and Family Auxiliary 27 whom I owe many thanks, an exceptional expression of appreciation is owed to those retired members who so kindly opened their homes and hearts to me, and who so freely shared their memories. A common theme in each of my interviews was the protestation that each had nothing important to say. I begged to differ, and I cannot emphasize enough how much I learnt from every single one of these people, or how touched I was by the kindness they all showed. I would especially like to thank Roy Fleming for the wonderful date, the beautiful drives through historic Oshawa, and for teaching me how to shoot properly. My sincerest gratitude is also owed to Anne Black, Stewart and Ruth Clapp, Jiggs and v Tammy Harlock, Gordon and Agnes Jackson, Betty Love, Myron Mech, George and Jeannette Nugent, Betty Rutherford and Charles Sleeman.

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