Provincial Solidarities: a History of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour
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provincial solidarities Working Canadians: Books from the cclh Series editors: Alvin Finkel and Greg Kealey The Canadian Committee on Labour History is Canada’s organization of historians and other scholars interested in the study of the lives and struggles of working people throughout Canada’s past. Since 1976, the cclh has published Labour / Le Travail, Canada’s pre-eminent scholarly journal of labour studies. It also publishes books, now in conjunction with AU Press, that focus on the history of Canada’s working people and their organizations. The emphasis in this series is on materials that are accessible to labour audiences as well as university audiences rather than simply on scholarly studies in the labour area. This includes documentary collections, oral histories, autobiographies, biographies, and provincial and local labour movement histories with a popular bent. series titles Champagne and Meatballs: Adventures of a Canadian Communist Bert Whyte, edited and with an introduction by Larry Hannant Working People in Alberta: A History Alvin Finkel, with contributions by Jason Foster, Winston Gereluk, Jennifer Kelly and Dan Cui, James Muir, Joan Schiebelbein, Jim Selby, and Eric Strikwerda Union Power: Solidarity and Struggle in Niagara Carmela Patrias and Larry Savage The Wages of Relief: Cities and the Unemployed in Prairie Canada, 1929–39 Eric Strikwerda Provincial Solidarities: A History of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour / Solidarités provinciales: Histoire de la Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Nouveau-Brunswick David Frank A History of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour david fra nk canadian committee on labour history Copyright © 2013 David Frank Published by AU Press, Athabasca University 1200, 10011 – 109 Street, Edmonton, ab t5j 3s8 isbn 978-1-927356-23-4 (print) 978-1-927356-24-1 (pdf) 978-1-927356-25-8 (epub) A volume in Working Canadians: Books from the cclh issn 1925-1831 (print) 1925-184x (digital) Cover and interior design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design. Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Book Printers. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Frank, David Provincial solidarities : a history of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour / David Frank. (Working Canadians, issn 1925-1831 ; 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic formats. Co-published by: Canadian Committee on Labour History. isbn 978-1-927356-23-4 1. New Brunswick Federation of Labour — History. 2. Labor unions — New Brunswick — History. 3. Labor movement — New Brunswick — History. i. Canadian Committee on Labour History ii. Title. iii. Series: Working Canadians (Edmonton, Alta.) ; 5 hd6529.n4f73 2013 331.88097151 c2012-905866-1 Publication of this book was supported by a Community-University Research Alliance grant provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (cbf) for our publishing activities. Assistance provided by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Multimedia Development Fund. This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons licence, Attribution–Noncommercial– No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada: see www.creativecommons.org. The text may be repro- duced for non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given to the original author. To obtain permission for uses beyond those outlined in the Creative Commons licence, please contact AU Press, Athabasca University, at [email protected]. contents List of Abbreviations vii Acknowledgements ix introduction "Makers of History" 3 one "An Accomplished Fact" 15 1913–1929 16 September 1913 15 Before the War 20 Workers’ Compensation 24 Reconstruction 29 Broader Horizons 33 “No Short Cut” 38 two "What We Were Promised" 45 1930–1939 “The Prevention of Unemployment” 45 A New Politics? 50 The Right to a Union 57 Miramichi and Minto 60 The Labour and Industrial Relations Act 64 Ending the Depression 67 three "A Province Fit for Heroes" 73 1940–1956 Defending Democracy 73 “A Blue-Print of Peace” 76 Industrial Unionism 80 Industrial Legality 84 Power and Politics 89 House of Labour 94 four "The New Unionism" 101 1957–1975 Equal Opportunities 101 Whitebone vs. MacLeod 105 New Members 114 Public Employees 122 Development and Underdevelopment 129 Looking Forward 141 five "On the Line" 147 1976–1997 Days of Protest 147 Moderates and Militants 153 Strengthening Participation 167 Plan of Action 175 McKenna vs. the Unions 186 “Make It Fair” 197 epilogue "Honour the Past. Build the Future" 211 Appendix: Membership in the New Brunswick Federation of Labour, 1913–2011 227 Notes 229 Index 273 a bbrevi ations accl All-Canadian Congress of Labour arlec Atlantic Region Labour Education Centre cbre Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad (later Railway) Employees ccf Co-operative Commonwealth Federation ccl Canadian Congress of Labour cep Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada cio Committee for (later Congress of) Industrial Organization(s) clc Canadian Labour Congress cpu Canadian Paperworkers Union csu Canadian Seamen’s Union cupe Canadian Union of Public Employees iam International Association of Machinists ibew International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ila International Longshoremen’s Association mfu Maritime Fishermen’s Union mla Member of the Legislative Assembly mp Member of Parliament nbcl New Brunswick Council of Labour nbfl New Brunswick Federation of Labour nbpea New Brunswick Public Employees Association nbu New Brunswick Union of Public and Private Employees ndp New Democratic Party nupe National Union of Public Employees rwdsu Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union siu Seafarers’ International Union tlc Trades and Labour Congress of Canada umwa United Mine Workers of America vii acknowledgements Many individuals and institutions helped in the preparation of this book, which has been one of the major undertakings of the Labour History in New Brunswick Project, a Community-University Research Alliance supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The council’s generous support made it possible to undertake several initiatives in the field, including this book. For a project functioning in both official languages of the province and based on collaboration between researchers at the two provincial universities, the Université de Moncton and the University of New Brunswick provided essential support. Members of the project team have made their own research contributions in the field and have also assisted in the preparation of this book. At the University of New Brunswick, Linda Kealey, Greg Kealey, and Bill Parenteau were always ready to provide advice and assistance. Nelson Ouellet developed the project website (http: // www. lhtnb.ca) and coordinated work in Moncton, with the assistance of Denise Paquette. At the Université de Moncton in Edmundston, Nicole Lang was a model of efficiency and cooperation at all times; in the production of this book, she provided expert editorial help in working with our excellent translator, Réjean Ouellette. Throughout the life of the project, our Fredericton project ix officer, Carol Ferguson, was indispensable in coordinating the work of the research team and our institutional partners. Student assistants participated in several phases of the work on this book, including the archival research and oral history. At the University of New Brunswick they included Christo Aivalis, Matt Baglole, Jazmine Belyea, Dana Brown, Kim Dunphy, Kelly Flinn, Steven Hansen, Courtney MacIsaac, Patrick Marsh, Mark McLaughlin, Don Nerbas, Lisa Pasolli, Amy Wallace, Leta Waugh, and Michael Wilcox; at the Université de Moncton they included Zoé Lessard-Couturier, Valerie McLaughlin, and Philippe Volpé. The responsibility for insisting that I undertake work in New Brunswick labour history belongs to Raymond Léger, who was already making notable contributions to the field as a researcher, educator, and activist long before this project was initiated; he has been a source of encouragement and advice for many years. Jean-Claude Basque, Education Representative for the Canadian Labour Congress in Moncton, was also an early advocate for this project. I am very grateful to George Vair, a former president of the Saint John and District Labour Council and a pioneer in Saint John labour history, who has always been ready to provide practical assistance. In the preparation of this book, the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, under the direction of Marion Beyea, made a home for the records of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour as well as for the oral history and administrative files produced by the project. When the idea of this history was discussed in the 1990s, Federation president Tim McCarthy provided support and encouragement, as did members of the Federation’s Education Committee. The late Blair Doucet, president of the Federation of Labour at the time the project was organized, understood the importance of sharing labour’s story with union members and the wider public. His successor, Michel Boudreau, has continued to provide cooperation and assistance. In the final stages of editorial work, the Busteed Fund at the University of New Brunswick assisted in securing illustrations. I am grateful to Athabasca University Press for undertaking to publish this book, in both English and French editions; a special thank-you is extended to Pamela MacFarland Holway, for supervising the editorial process, and to Natalie Olsen, for the handsome