Labour Goes to War—The Cio and the Construction of a New Social Order, 1939-45

During the Second World War, the Congress of IndustrialOrganizations in Canada grew from a handful of members to more than aquarter-million and from political insignificance to a position ofinfluence in the emergence of the welfare state. What was it about the"good war" that brought about this phenomenal growth? Andhow did this coming of age during the war affect the emerging CIO?

Labour Goes to War analyzes the organizing strategies ofthe CIO during the war to show that both economic and cultural forceswere behind its explosive growth. Labour shortages gave workers greaterpower in the workplace and increased their militancy. Butworkers' patriotism, their ties to those on active service,memories of the First World War, and allegiance to the"people's war" also contributed to the CIO'sgrowth - and to what it claimed for workers. At the same time,union organizers and workers influenced one another as the war changedlives, opinions, expectations -- and notions of women'srights.

Wendy Cuthbertson has worked for the Canadian AutoWorkers Union, the Ontario Pay Equity Commission, and the OntarioConfederation of University Faculty Associations.

Wendy Cuthbertson has worked for the Canadian AutoWorkers Union, the Ontario Pay Equity Commission, and the OntarioConfederation of University Faculty Associations.