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Distributed for Athabasca University Press

Our Union

UAW/CAW Local 27 from 1950 to 1990

In Our Union, Jason Russell argues that the union local, as an institution of working-class organization, was a key agent for the Canadian working class as it sought to create a new place for itself in the decades following World War II. Using UAW/CAW Local 27, a composite union in London, Ontario, as a case study, he offers a ground-level look at union membership, including some of the social and political agendas that informed union activities. Drawing on interviews with former members of UAW/CAW Local 27 as well as on archival sources, Russell offers a narrative intended to speak not only to labour historians but to union members themselves.

Table of Contents

List of Tables / vi

List of Illustrations / vii

Acknowledgements / ix

Introduction: Local Unions in the Post–World War II Decades / 3 

I Built to Last  / 17

2 The National Union  / 49

3 Employers and Bargaining Units / 79

4 Collective Bargaining  / 103

5 Labour Relations  / 141

6 The Social and Community Agenda  / 165

7 Community Politics and Activism  / 201

8 “It Was All About Families”  / 223

Conclusion: Looking Back  / 251

Appendix A: Local 27 Bargaining Units  / 263

Appendix B: Interviews  / 264

Notes  / 265

Bibliography  / 309

Index  / 321

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