Union Organizing in the Canadian Banking Industry, 1940–1980
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UNION ORGANIZING IN THE CANADIAN BANKING INDUSTRY, 1940–1980 A Dissertation Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Copyright by Julia Maureen Smith 2016 Canadian Studies Ph.D. Graduate Program May 2016 ABSTRACT Dissertation Title: Union Organizing in the Canadian Banking Industry, 1940–1980 Author’s Name: Julia Maureen Smith Summary: In this dissertation, I examine union organizing in the Canadian banking industry between 1940 and 1980. By demonstrating that bank workers consistently sought to unionize throughout the twentieth century, I challenge claims that bank employees and other private sector white-collar workers have low rates of unionization because they are not interested in unions or suffer from false consciousness. This research also suggests, however, that many bank workers saw themselves as different from blue-collar industrial workers; the lived reality of bank work as precarious, poorly paid, and rife with gender inequality intersected with ideas about professionalism and aspirations of advancing up the career ladder. Banks, unions, and workers drew on these ideas and experiences in their arguments for and against unionization. I also look at why previous organizing efforts did not establish a strong union presence in the banking industry. Most of these attempts failed, I argue, due to several key issues, including the banks’ anti-union activity, federal and provincial labour board decisions, and labour movement disputes over ideology, jurisdiction, and strategy. The banks consistently opposed unionization and used a variety of tactics to thwart union organizing, both overtly and covertly. The state, in the form of labour legislation and labour boards, provided unions and workers with some means by which to compel the ii banks to recognize unions, negotiate contracts, and deal with employee grievances; however, state action and inaction more often worked to undermine union organizing. The attitudes and strategies of high-ranking labour movement officials also shaped the outcome of union drives in the banks. Between 1940 and 1980, the mostly male labour leadership repeatedly used top-down organizing strategies and appointed male organizers with no experience of bank work to oversee union drives in a sector with an increasingly feminized workforce; labour leaders’ inability or unwillingness to reflect on this approach and to support grassroots campaigns and alternative strategies hindered bank union organizing. I thus highlight the intersection of gender and class and reveal how these factors have historically shaped the labour movement bureaucracy, union organizing, and the relationship between labour and the state. Keywords: trade unions; banks; union organizing; white-collar workers; labour bureaucracy; gender; Canada iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge and thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for the funding I received to complete this dissertation. I also thank SSHRC for awarding me a Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement that allowed me to spend a semester as a visiting scholar at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. As well, I am grateful for the funding I received from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program, the School of Graduate Studies at Trent University, the Symons Trust Fund, and the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. Many colleagues and scholars assisted me during my doctoral studies. I thank the numerous Trent faculty members who offered support and encouragement, including Gillian Balfour, James Conolly, Chris Dummitt, Caroline Durand, Finis Dunaway, Michael Eamon, Julia Harrison, Marg Hobbs, John Milloy, Janet Miron, Jim Struthers, John Wadland, and Deborah White. Thanks also to my fellow graduate students and the staff in the Academic Skills Centre, Bata Library, Facilities Management, and the School of Graduate Studies. I would like to extend a special thank you to Erin Stewart Eves, who provided helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this dissertation, and to Jeannine Crowe and Cathy Schoel, who have made Kerr House a warm and welcoming place to study. Outside of Trent, I received assistance from the staff at Library and Archives Canada, Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of British Columbia Library, and Archives and Special Collections at the University of Ottawa Library. Wallace Clement shared his expertise on political economy. I am especially grateful to Robyn Alexander, for speaking with me about her experiences as a bank union organizer, and to François iv Leduc and the members of le Syndicat des Employées et Employés Professionels-les et de Bureau 434, for granting me access to the union’s archives. As well, thank you to Joshua Freeman, David Harvey, Alice Kessler-Harris, and Ruth Milkman for their support during my semester in New York. I am profoundly grateful to my examining committee. Dimitry Anastakis and Charles Smith were excellent examiners, and I appreciate their thoughtful comments on my work. Rosemary Warskett also offered helpful suggestions and generously shared her expertise and personal memories of bank union organizing. Bryan Palmer provided valuable insight and advice on my research throughout its development. Joan Sangster has been an exemplary supervisor. I have learned much from her about scholarship, history, feminism, politics, mentorship, and activism. I am grateful for her support and in awe of her knowledge and work ethic. It has been a privilege to work with her and to complete this project under her supervision. Last but certainly not least, I thank my friends and family for enriching my life in so many ways. A special thanks to my sister Lisa, who was a constant source of hope, inspiration, laughs, and commiseration as we completed our doctoral studies together. Finally, I would like to thank Sean, for everything. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1: Bank Workers, Unions, and the State ..........................................................1 Chapter 2: The First Canadian Bank Strike, 1941–1942 .............................................35 Chapter 3: The Canadian Labour Congress and Bank Union Organizing, 1956–1960..........................................................................................................................85 Chapter 4: Bank Workers Unionize in Québec, 1965–1968 ......................................138 Chapter 5: The Battle for Canadian Bank Workers in the 1970s .............................187 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................255 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................265 Archival Collections .................................................................................................265 Unpublished Interviews ............................................................................................265 Newspapers...............................................................................................................265 Published Books and Articles ...................................................................................266 Public Documents .....................................................................................................280 Unpublished Papers and Theses ...............................................................................281 Websites .. ................................................................................................................281 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS ACTE Association of Commercial and Technical Employees AEBE Association des Employés de la Banque d’Épargne de la Cité et du District de Montréal, Incorporée AFL American Federation of Labor BC British Columbia BCGEU British Columbia Government Employees’ Union BCN Banque Canadienne Nationale BEA Bank Employees Association C & D Banque d’Épargne de la Cité et du District de Montréal CBEA Canadian Bank Employees’ Association CBRE Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees and Other Transport Workers CCF Co-operative Commonwealth Federation CCL Canadian Congress of Labor CCWU Canadian Chemical Workers Union CCYM Co-operative Commonwealth Youth Movement CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations CLC Canadian Labour Congress CLRB Canada Labour Relations Board COPE Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union vii CSN Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux CUBE Canadian Union of Bank Employees CUPE Canadian Union of Public Employees FTQ Fédération des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Québec IBOA Irish Bank Officials’ Association IRDIA Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act NWLB National War Labour Board OEIU Office Employees International Union ON Ontario OPEIU Office and Professional Employees