Multimedia Books Sam Gindin - The Canadian Auto Workers: The Birth and Transformation of a Union Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part One: Waiting
Unionization wasn't established in the auto industry until three decades after the first car factories were built in Canada, and two decades after the introduction of the assembly line. Part One deals with the immediate background of the UAW's birth; the development of the auto industry and assembly line production (Chapter 1) and the socail and economic context of the Great Depression (Chapter 2).
Part Two: The Union Arrives
The establishment of the UAW as a permanent institution began with its first breakthroughs in the thirties (Chapter 3), continued with the winning of the recognition from both companies and the state in the forties (Chapter 4), and solidified with the development of its basic collective bargaining strategy and structure in the fifties (Chapter 5).
4) Recognition
Part Three: Normal Isn't Normal Anymore
In the sixties, a new generation rebelled and raised basic questions about the values and direction of societ (Chapter 6). That social offensive was met, in the seventies, by a coprporate counteroffensive to regain the initiative (Chapter 7).
Part Four: Towards a New Unionism
In dealing with concessions, the Canadian UAW's goal was to defend its members and maintain the integrity of its organization. But the very refusal to change fundmental principles let it to the most fundamental of changes in its structure: a break with its parent organization (Chapter 8). That change led to further dramatic changes in the regional and sectoral composition of the union (Chapter 9). Along with the volatile economic and social climate of the times, these developments confronted the Canadians with new questions regarding direction and structure (Chapter 10).
9) The More Things Change, The More They...Change Again
