GB 0101 TU.CN - Canada: Trades Unions Material

4 boxes

The Commonwealth Trades Unions Materials collection was built up alongside that of the Political Parties, which was begun in 1960-61, and likewise concentrated on the collection of primary material. The main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to trades unions throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of major union organisations.
GB 0101 TU.CN 1957- Collection (Fonds) 4 boxes Institute of Commonwealth Studies

The 1950s and 1960s saw an expansion in union power and membership as the high demand for labour in a growing economy strengthened its representatives' bargaining power. At the same time the merger of the Canadian Congress of Labour and the Trades and Labor Congress, which formed the Canadian Labor Congress, both allowed labour to present a more united front and facilitated the setting up in 1961 of the New Democratic Party, a political party intended at least in part to represent union interests. Yet by the 1970s and 1980s the movement found itself on the back foot, as the Trudeau wage controls and later demands for a more flexible workforce and the loss of manufacturing jobs contributed to the erosion of hard-won rights. The materials here, mainly from union confederations, deal with their internal and external responses to the changing conditions described above.

The Commonwealth Trades Unions Materials collection was built up alongside that of the Political Parties, which was begun in 1960-61, and likewise concentrated on the collection of primary material. The main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to trades unions throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of major union organisations.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Leaflets, letters, newsletters, journals, posters and pamphlets at federal and state level issued by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Confederation of Canadian Unions, and the Fédération des travailleurs du Québec, and the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by union, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
English and French.

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

See also Canada: Pressure Groups Material (PG.CN) and Canada: Political Party Material (PP.CN), as well as Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.  Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.  Created 28/01/2004 AIM25 Canada Canadian Labour Congress Canadian Union of Public Employees Confederation of Canadian Unions Employment Employment policy Fédération des travailleurs du Québec Labour Labour movements Labour relations North America Ontario Ontario Federation of Labour Quebec Trade unions

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Leaflets, letters, newsletters, journals, posters and pamphlets at federal and state level issued by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Confederation of Canadian Unions, and the Fédération des travailleurs du Québec, and the Ontario Federation of Labour.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by union, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

• English

• Latin

English and French.

See also Canada: Pressure Groups Material (PG.CN) and Canada: Political Party Material (PP.CN), as well as Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English