The Toronto Typographical Union (TTU) was an early Canadian trade union in the printing industry. Founded in 1832, it came to prominence in 1872 when it organized a major strike in Toronto. Membership declined in the mid- to late-20th century as printing turned digital. By 1994, TTU had been absorbed by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
The association that would become the Toronto Typographical Union was first organized in 1832 as the York Typographical Union. [1] [lower-alpha 1] This association, which was renamed the Toronto Typographical Society in 1835, survived only to 1837. [1] It was reorganized in 1844 to counter newspaper publisher George Brown's efforts to lower printing workers' wages. [2]
In May 1866, the then–Toronto Typographical Society joined the National Typographical Union to become, officially, Toronto Typographical Union No. 91. [3] The National Typographical Union, organized beginning in December 1850, was based in the United States. [4] Zerker argues that, as a consequence, TTU came under "foreign domination". [5] Burr suggests that this overstates the point, as TTU's members in Toronto supported its move to become a local of the American organization. [6]
Among other activities, TTU is known for its role in organizing a strike on March 25, 1872, known as the Toronto printers' strike. [7] Historian Robert H. Babcock describes it as "one of the most important events in Canadian labour history". [8] TTU organized the strike as part of the Nine-Hour Movement for a workday of nine hours, a demand that unions in Britain and the United States (in the latter case, for an eight-hour workday), were making around the same time. [9]
TTU and the print workers it represented announced their demand for a nine-hour day, with no accompanying pay cut, on March 13, 1872. [10] Their bosses—then still known as master printers—refused the offer on March 19, with one exception. [10] James Beaty, a Conservative politician and editor of the Toronto Leader , accepted TTU's demands and even wrote in favour of their cause. [11] The strike began on March 25. [10] George Brown, publisher of The Globe (now The Globe and Mail ), vehemently opposed the strike, and arranged for the arrest of its leaders. [12]
Strike supporters rallied again in large numbers at Queen's Park on April 15, 1872. [13] Twenty-three TTU organizers were arrested for conspiracy on April 16, and a trial began on April 18. [14] At the time, Canadian law made no exception for unions to the general common law rules governing the crime of conspiracy: a union committee's "conspiracy" to disrupt a commercial enterprise with a strike was no different in law from any other agreement to disturb the peace. [15] The organizers were accordingly convicted. [15]
Shortly after the Queen's Park rally, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald introduced the Trade Unions Act, 1872 in the House of Commons, which made certain forms of union activity legal. The Act was based on two statutes that had recently been adopted in Britain: the Trade Union Act 1871 and Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871. [16] It passed on June 14, 1872. [12]
The rise of computer-based printing in the 1960s and 1970s largely rendered manual typesetting obsolete. Accordingly, TTU membership declined precipitously during this period, beginning with a lengthy newspaper strike that began in 1964. [17] As of January 1978, TTU had just over 1,300 members. [18] The union was still active in Mississauga as of 1987, when it won a settlement on behalf of 30 workers at Burlington Air Express (now BAX Global) at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. [19] It had become a local of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada by 1994. [20]
The Knights of Labor, officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation that was active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also in Great Britain and Australia. Its most important leader was Terence V. Powderly. The Knights of Labor promoted the social and cultural uplift of the worker, and demanded the eight-hour day. In some cases it acted as a labor union, negotiating with employers, but it was never well organized or funded. It was notable in its ambition to organize across lines of gender and race and in the inclusion of both skilled and unskilled labor. After a rapid expansion in the mid-1880s, it suddenly lost its new members and became a small operation again. The Knights of Labor had served, however, as the first mass organization of the white working class of the United States.
The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most famous and influential strikes in Canadian history. For six weeks, May 15 to June 26, more than 30,000 strikers brought economic activity to a standstill in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which at the time was Canada's third largest city. In the short term, the strike ended in arrests, bloodshed and defeat, but in the long run it contributed to the development of a stronger labour movement and the tradition of social democratic politics in Canada.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing about 700,000 members in both the private and public sectors. The union has 27 locals in Canada via CWA-SCA Canada representing about 8,000 members. CWA has several affiliated subsidiary labor unions bringing total membership to over 700,000. CWA is headquartered in Washington, DC, and affiliated with the AFL–CIO, the Strategic Organizing Center, the Canadian Labour Congress, and UNI Global Union.
James "Jimmie" Simpson was a British-Canadian trade unionist, printer, journalist and left-wing politician in Toronto, Ontario. He was a longtime member of Toronto's city council and served as Mayor of Toronto in 1935, the first member of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation to serve in that capacity. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada.
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, abbreviated CEP in English and SCEP in French, was a largely private-sector labour union with 150,000 members, active from 1992 to 2013. It was created in 1992 through the merger of three unions: the Canadian Paperworkers Union, the Communications and Electrical Workers of Canada, and the Energy and Chemical Workers Union. See below for some other unions that were merged into the CEP. CEP/SCEP was affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress.
Abram William Lauder was a Canadian lawyer and political figure. He represented Grey South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1874 and Grey East from 1875 to 1884.
The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a North American trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the International Typographical Union at its Albany, New York, convention in 1869 after it began organizing members in Canada. The ITU was one of the first unions to admit female members, admitting women members such as Augusta Lewis, Mary Moore and Eva Howard in 1869.
Daniel John O'Donoghue was a printer, labour leader and political figure in Ontario. O'Donoghue is recognized as one of the original founders of organized labour in Canada and in 1874 he became the first labour candidate election to a Canadian legislature.
The Globe was a Canadian newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with The Mail and Empire in 1936 to form The Globe and Mail.
Ottawa Trades Council was the first local labour central body established to unite workers in the city of Ottawa, Canada.
The Vancouver general strike which took place on 2 August 1918, was the first general strike in Canadian history. There had been talks of organizing a general strike for quite some time due to federal conscription, censorship of socialist publications, and workers' demands for higher wages. War-time inflation reduced real income profoundly and throughout the First World War Vancouver shipbuilders experienced a labour shortage. Numerous government policies had suppressed the work of labour activists such as strikes, lockouts and certain presses being banned. Workers were also inspired by factors such as the Bolshevik Revolution the previous year and the rising cost of living. The strike was eventually organized as a one-day political protest after the killing of draft evader and labour activist Albert "Ginger" Goodwin on 27 July. He had previously called for a general strike in case any worker was drafted against their will.
The New Orleans general strike was a general strike in the U.S. city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, that began on November 8, 1892. Despite appeals to racial hatred, black and white workers remained united. The general strike ended on November 12, with unions gaining most of their original demands.
This is a timeline of labour issues and events in Canada.
Gregory S. Kealey is a historian of the working class in Canada, founding editor of the journal Labour/Le Travail, and former vice-president (research) and provost of the University of New Brunswick, where he is Professor Emeritus of History. The author and editor of numerous books and articles on labour history, intelligence studies, and state security, Kealey is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Royal Society of Canada and served as president of the Canadian Historical Association. In 2016 the Canadian Historical Review published a memoir of his career. In 2017 he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada.
The Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia (PIEUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1966. It represented a range of production and trades workers in the printing industry.
The Toronto Labour Day Parade is an annual event held in the city of Toronto. The parade is organized by the Toronto and York District Labour Council following a route down University Avenue, then west along Queen Street West then proceeding down Dufferin Street entering the Canadian National Exhibition via the Dufferin Gate.
The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom.
Robert Harper Babcock was an American historian of North American labor.
The Canadian Labour Revolt was a loosely connected series of strikes, riots, and labour conflicts that took place across Canada between 1918 and 1925, largely organized by the One Big Union (OBU).
The South African Typographical Union (SATU) is a trade union representing workers in the printing and media industries in South Africa.
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