"Kitchen Economics for the Farnily:" Paid Education Leave and The Canadian Antoworkers Union Reuben Roth A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto Q Copyright by Reuben N. Roth 1997 National Library Bibliothwue natronaie I*l of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wellington OttawaON KIAON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract "Kitchen Economics for the Family:" Paid Education Leave and The Canadian Autoworkers Union A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Gradurte Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education Ontario lnstitute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto This thesis examines the Paid Education Leave (PEL) program of the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW), fomerly the Canadian Region of the United Autoworkers Union (UAW). This four-week program takes place at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, Ontario and potentiatly provides 90% of the CAW's members with class-based, union-centred, labour education. Interviews conducted with key CAW sources uncover PEL's histoncal roots. A chronicle of the stniggle to establish PEL is detailed in relation to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 140 on Paid Educational Leave. niematic, oral- history inteniews were conducted with six CAW Local 222 members, al1 former participants of PEL. Interviews are used to illustrate a detailed description of the program's pedagogy and curriculum. Interview respondents were Generai Motors (GM)of Canada workers located in Oshawa, Ontario. Several policy and programmatic suggestions are made, including increased understanding of, and elevated respect for, informal learning. Thanks to my fdly for their support, especially my wife Maureen, without whom 1 couldn't have corne this far. Not only is she my greatest supporter, but she's a heck of a copy editor as well, jumping on lapses of logic and grammar alike. My thanks to former WCB Vocational Rehabilitation couwllor, Marg Fraser, for giving me an opportunity to re-enter higher education after many years of industnai work. Susan Prentice taught me the basics of social cnticism, femlliist analysis and clear writing. Kate McKenna showed me how to link my expenence with social analysis through reflexive writing. Wally Seccombe, D'Arcy Martin and Kari Dehli al1 provided insights which were exceptionally helpful and gave my project more clarity. 1 am indebted to David Livingstone for his help. He has not only shared his time and insight in abundance, but opened many doors for me. He has also given me an opportunity to delve simultaneously into political action and acadernia Jack Quarter has demonstrated that he was a wondemil choice as a rnember of my thesis committee. He's always proven to be a keen supporter and a great enthusiast. CAW national librarian Kathy Bennett has my appreciation for her patience, as do Dan Benedict, Gord Wilson, Carol Philips, Local 222's Dean Lindsay, Kathy Fowlie and the many CAW representatives who were kind enough to allow me to interrogate them. My th& also to John Bettes, former President of then-UAW Local 112, who had no idea what he was in for when he sent me to PEL in 1980. Finally, this thesis could not have been written without the six Local 222 PEL participants who shared their experiences with me and gave generously of their tirne. TabIe of Contents Abstract ....................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................... iii Table of Contents ................................................. iv Table of Tables .................................................. vi Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................. 1 The CAW: Paragon of Progressive Unionism? .......................... 9 A Different Kind of Cornmon-Sense ............................... 13 Methods: Worker Intexviews ..................................... 19 Local 222: Crucible of Cultural Resistance .......................... 23 The Array of Learning Opportunities at Local 222 ..................... 26 Leaming Experiences at Local 222 ................................ 30 A Brief Review of the Literature ................................. 34 Aronowitz: Three ModeIs of Worker-Education ....................... 37 The Hidden Injuries of Public Education ............................ 40 Chapter 2 . The International Labour Organization and PEL .................... 45 The European View: Sweden ................................... 47 France ....................................................50 Italy ......................................................52 Negotiating Educational Leave: The Laborious Task .................... 53 PEL: Future Legislative Possibiiities .............................. 55 Chapter 3. PEL and The CAW: ...................................... 59 The Economic Climate ........................................ 62 IL0 140: Sehg the Stage for PEL ............................... 62 iv Bargainhg PEL for Autoworkers ................................. 69 PEL: Initial Obstacles and Inspirations ............................. 71 Course Design and Content: Varying Viewpoints ...................... 77 Chapter 4. Paid Education Leave: The CAW Program ........................ 80 PEL: The Preparatory Session .................................... 82 Week One: History fiom Below .................................. 85 Effective Speaking ............................................ 88 PEL: Union Democracy ........................................ 90 Week Two: The State and Evolution ............................... 93 Week Three: Classes in Conflict .................................. 96 Week Four: The Plan of Action .................................. 100 PEL: Participant Viewpoints .................................... 104 Chapter 5 . PEL: An Analysis ........................................ 106 PEL as a "transfomative"experience .............................. 111 On the Unease of 'Dangerous' Knowledge ........................... 113 Polymorphous Protest ......................................... 118 Chapter 6 . Conclusion: Recommendations and Next Steps .................... 120 Bibliography ................................................... 131 Table of Tables Table 1: Average Femde PEL Participation (%) ........................... 23 Table 2: Respondent Characteristics and Forma1 Education .................... 28 Table 3: Some Union Local. National and Joint Nonformal Programs ............. 40 I link &!ometUA W PEL Director] Dan [BenedictJ coined the phrase ... 'kitchen economicï ' ... we went from very basic beginnings to explaining to people how the system worked and how workers usualiy get ripped off within that system. -Gord Wilson. fumer United Auto Workers Education Director' ... what they [managemenu tend to bring across is that "we want to hy and work as a team," but that has absduteiy nothing to do with it ai all. cause Ih just a number and when I drop dead they 'lljust bring somebody in and would likeiy pay them Iess money in the future ... that f pretty well the way PEL brought across ... that you 're just a number and they 'Il [the company] use you until you rot. -Paid Education Leave Participan? Capitalism, a true definition of what capital was - that opened up a lot of people's eyes, it really did. -Puid Education Leuve Participanr' Chapter 1. Introduction In the late 1930s 1 sat in on a course of education for trade unionists. That these workers had a desire to learn was evident by thek enrolment in a class held in the evenings, after they had done a day's work. That the teacher knew his subject was manifest fiom the brilliance of this lecture. That the combination of students' desire and teacher's grasp of the material did not result in leaming was obvious fiom the fact that before the hour was over, several members of the class were asleep..." -Le0 Hubeman, "How to Spread the Word," 1967.' Hubennan was nght - many workers do have a desire to leam. Despite the generaliy negative expenence of working-class students in the public education system5 in 1994, over one out of five, or 22 percent of Ontarians classified as 'industrial workers' attended adult or continuing education courses? This is likely a response to calls fiom business and 'Telephone interview with Gord Wilson September 15, 1995. 'Interview PEL05.496 'Hubennan, 1967. "ee for example Curtis, et al., (1992), Shor, (1980) Wilson, (1989) for narratives on the negative experiences working-class