UAW CANADIAN REGIONAL OFFICE (REGION 7) Papers, 1937-1970 (Predominantly 1955-1970) 100.5 Linear Feet ACCESSION NO. 372 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. UAW Region 7 Canadian Regional Office -2- 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. Important subjects covered in the collection include: 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 Unemp1oyment Union Negotiations Union Security Wage Parity Wage Rates Windsor, Ontario Women Workers Education UAW Region 7 Canadian Regional Office -3- The following list of correspondents includes most persons with at least five letters. Asterisks by the name denote particularly frequent letters. Addes, George Lambert, Gordon L. Andras, A. Lewis, David Archer, David MacBride, Ralph Bannon, Ken * McDermott, Dennis Barber, Harvey McDonald, Charles Beckham, William J. McDonald, Donald Benson, Harry * MacLean, Thomas Berniquez, Gerard Madar, Olga Bickell, Norman Mahoney, William Borovoy, A. Alan Marchand, Jean * Burt, George Marshall, William J. Cassey, Daniel Martin, Paul * Coburn, Carrol L. * Mazey, Emil * Courtney, Richard F. Millard, C. H. DeAngelis, D.E. Moroz, Frank Dodge, William Peacock, Hugh Douglas, Thomas C Reuther, Victor Edwards, Nelson Jack * Reuther, Walter P. Eldon, John Rooney, Harry Fairchild, Frank Schlossberg, Steven I. Forcey, Eugene * Schroeder, Allen Ford, Harry Schultz, Arthur G. Fryer, John L. Sheehan, Dilis Goldberg, Ted * Siren, Paul Green, Stanley V. Smith, Malcolm Hartford, Jerry Specht, George HiHer, Joseph L. Taylor, Jack * Jodoin, Claude Todgham, Ron W. Johnston, Alfred A. Vassart, Maurice Kelly, Herbert White, Robert Kenny, Joseph B. * Woodcock, Leonard The following abbreviations for Canadian provinces other than Ontario have been used: Alberta AB Manitoba MB Quebec PQ Saskatchewan SK UAW Region 7 Canadian Regional Office -4- Contents 201 manuscript boxes Series I, General File, 1937-1970, Boxes 1-48: Correspondence, memoranda, research materials, clippings and other materials on subjects of interest to the Canadian UAW. Series II, Officers Files, 1939-1970, Boxes 49-67. Subseries A: Officers' Files, Boxes 49-60; Subseries B: Correspondence of International Representatives, Boxes 60-67: 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. Subseries A: Canadian UAW Council, 1940-1970, Boxes 68-73; Subseries B: Other Councils, 1949-1970, Boxes 73-78: 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. Subseries A: All Locals, 1941-1968, Boxes 79-81: 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: Correspondence, audits, agreements, negotiation papers, and other materials, in the files of Canadian locals. Series V, Companies, 1937-1970, Boxes 107-185. Subseries A: Companies, Boxes 107-170; Subseries B: Companies, Supplementary Unemployment Benefits, Boxes 171-183; Subseries C: Wage Rates, 1966, Boxes 184-185: 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 UAW Region 7 Canadian Regional Office -5- 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: 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. Subseries A: Canadian Labour Congress, Boxes 190-200; Subseries B: The Ontario Federation of Labour, Boxes 200-201: Correspondence, reports, minutes, memoranda and research materials relating to two important Canadian labour organizations and various union and political figures. Non-Manuscript Material: 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. UAW Region 7 Canadian Regional Office -6- Series I General File, 1937-1970 Boxes 1-48 Correspondence, memoranda, research materials, clippings, hansards and other papers on subjects of interest to the Canadian UAW, filed alphabetically. BOX 1 1-5. Addresses of Various Labour and Political Leaders, 1966-1970 6-7. Aerospace Industry, 1969-1970 8. Agreements and Contracts: Requests, 1964-1967 9-14. Agreements: Summaries and Surveys, 19 68-1970 15-16. Agreements: Analysis and Coding, 1969-1970 17. Agreements: Use of Computers in Analysis, 1969 BOX 2 1. Agricultural Implements Industry, 1969-1970 2-3. Aircraft Brief, 1958-1959 (Local 1075) 4-5. Aircraft and Guided Missiles, 1958-1960 6. American Politics, 1969-1970 7. Appeal Cases: Miscellaneous, 1963-1967 8-14. Appeal Cases: Three-Man Committees, Region 1-A and 1-B, 1963-1968 BOX 3 1-2. Appeal Cases: Three-Man Committee, Region 1E, 1968 3-12. Appeal Cases: Nine-Man Committee, 1962-1968 13. Apprenticeship Standards (Canadian), 1968 14-15. Arbitrations, 1968-1970 BOX 4 1-10. Arbitrations, 1968-1970 BOX 5 1. Arbitrations: Miscellaneous, 1967-1969 2. Arbitrations: Attorney General's Committee on Arbitration, 1962 3. Arbitrations: Ontario Labour Relations Board, 1962 4. "Arbitration and the Right to Strike": Brief by George Burt to Minister of Labour, 1964 5. Arbitration Service Department, 1964-1967 6. Automation Survey: Motor Products Unit, Local 195, 1956 7-8. Automation: Conference on Automation (Upper College,