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teed tual und. and wth erm loans _ for ECE EEE McNeil Recalls Progress Of Local Through Years By RUSSELL McNEIL, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 222, UAW-CLC On March 4, 1967, Local 222 will be celebrating its thirty- year anniversary. The year 1936 was one of the most memorable years in Auto Workers' history. : The great General Motors plants were involved in a bit- ter strike in Flint_and Detroit with the UAW that year. Workers in the U.S. were aroused by the tight fisted, arrogant attitude the company was taking, in a drive to in- voke a speed-up in production, with less pay. The consequence was a Strike for recognition of the union, which was :estab- lished. x General Motors in Oshawa] was no different than their parent body. Canadian work- ers felt exactly the same as those to the south. When force was applied by the corporation to gain that speed-up with less pay for the workers, they knew something had to be done: So a few venturesome em- ployees of GM decided to do something about organizing General Motors in Oshawa. After a great deal of work by a few people, a start was made, but it was not until Feb- ruary, 1937, that the organiza- tion really began to roll. Broth- er Thompson, _ International representative, was sent in from across the border to help organize the employees and to explain the purposes of the UAW - CIO to the 3,700 em- ployees of GM. Then there was a big job having the employees sign the application cards, making them members of the UAW. CHARTER ISSUED On March 2, 1937, an Inter- national charter was issued to the following men: Charles Millard, Arthur Shultz, Malcolm Smith, Harry Gibbs, Murdock MclIndless, Finley Dafoe, William Gelech, Robert Mitchell, R. Jones, Irvine Mc- Lean, Norman Knapp, William Knapp, William Powell, John Sanford, Dennis Spratt, Don- ald Lang, Eric Armitage and Sidney Lang. Local 222 was on its way to success. Immediately following the Issuing of the charter, elec- tions for officers, the Executive Board, were held. Those elected were Charles Millard, resident; E. Bathe, vice-pres- dent; William Harmer, re- cording secretary; Arthur Shults, financial secretary; George _ Burt, _ treasurer; George Day, George Frisl, Thomas King, trustees; Har- vey Farrow, sergeant-at-arms. These men comprised the first executive board of Local 222, UAW-CIO. An agreement requesting union contract (namely, recog- nition, grievance procedure, seniority, a recognized work week, with time-and-one-half for overtime) was submitted to General Motors. General Motors management took an adamant stand and re- fused to meet the negotiating committee. When all other methods failed, the members of General Motors were forced to call. a strike. On April 8, 1937, the strike began, eventu- ally changing the economic structure of Oshawa, as well as to become a political foot- ball for both the Provincial and Federal government. Mitchell Hepburn, the Provincial pre- mier, took a very bitter stand against the UAW - CIO Union. The membership was subject to terrific pressure and epi- thets, such as foreign agitator, communist and many others, THE OSHAWA TOMES, Tue sdoy, Pébruery 28, 1967 23A the largest and richest eorpo- ration in Canada, F Meanwhile, the feeder plants} had not been idle. In Phillips) Glass, Skinner's, Coulter's, On- tario Steel Products, organiza- tion was proceeding and _ al- though the records are rather vague during the early stages. Nevertheless, it is established that there were contracts sign- ed in each of these plants. The next struggles began with when we told them we were going to bring new dignity to our members' lives and a bet- ter standard of living. Over the years, we will be! judged, not just by the amount | of money we win for ourselves | at the bargaining table, but| also by how much we benefit! four communities and the world! at large. Oshawa House Is Recalled Up to 1842, the inhabitants of what was then known as 'the the outside industrials union- ism was here to stay and thus} became one of the main forces) in the community, 1937 VICTORY | While victory in 1937 was complete so far as bargaining; was concerned, the next big! task was that of holding the union together. There was no check-off, and the union did. not} perform miracles as some}! commonplace. Hepburn claim- ed there never would be any CIO allowed in Ontario. So de- termined was the Provincial premier to defeat the UAW, he made arrangements with the Federal premier to have| 500 Mounties come from Ottawa! to Oshawa by train to force back-to-work movement in the GM plant. | When this was challenged by| the people through Mayor Alex Hall, it was requested that there be no outside interfer- ference as long as there was, peaceful picketing. If the Moun-| ties were brought into Oshawa, | the mayor advised the premier| that he would be solely respon- sible for whatever happened. NOT BROUGHT The Mounties were not brought here. Mr. Hepburn's boast that the CIO would never be allowed into Ontario was titvarted. How wrong he had proved to be. However, Mr. Hepburn had other troubles that slowed him down, even his cabinet was not all in agree- ment with his policies, Two of his ministers, Mr. D. Croll, then Minister of Labor, and Attor- ney-General Arthur Roebuck re- signed in protest to Mr. Hep- burn's reactionary policy. The two ministers' names mention- ed above should never be for- gotten and always remember- ed by the trade union's move- ment. However, after three weeks of peaceful picketing there wasn't one arrest made in the City of Oshawa. Local 222 soon became the bargaining agent for the union members in General Motors. Seniority, grievance proce- dure, time - and - one - half for more than 44 hours per week, five minute rest period, the union had established the prin- cipal of the UAW - CIO Union with the employees and Gen- eral Motors. The members re- turned to work satisfied that the basic requirement of a members thought it should. As} a result, the membership at the) beginning of 1938 showed an} larming drop. Thus, it became| impossible for the active mem- bers to collect dues. It became necessary to establish a_ re-| organization committee, and many hours. were spent by- a faithful few who tramped from door to door, often meeting with a hostile reception, in an effort to maintain the gains already won. Long meetings were held and the organization began to show a success, after almost a failure. An important development in 1938 was the inception of the Credit Union which has played a very important part in the | members' financial position of} raising their standard of liv-| ing. The Stewards, too, have play-| ed a key role in the organiza- tion, The Ladies' Auxiliary is a group who has been the back- bone of our organization and| has played a part throughout the past and will in the future. The following are the past presidents since the beginning| of Local 222, in 1937: Charles} Millard, 1937; Jack Cottingham, | 1938; George Thomson, 1939-| 1942; Thomas MacLean, 1940; | Albert Elson, 1943-1944; Harry! Benson, 1945 - 1946; Richard| Courtney, 1947; Wesley Grant,} 1948 - 1949; John Brady, 1950; Chris Mason, 1951; Russell Mc- Neil, 1954 - 1956; Cliff Pilkey, 1957 - 1958; Malcolm Smith, 1941, 1952, 1953, and 1959 to 1963 inclusive; 1963 to 1967. A veteran of Local 222 since 1937, I will remember the Local Union history and the progress that has been made. I Albert Taylor, Indian Village of Skea's Cor- ners" had their mail addressed to Hamar's Corners. In_ that! year, application was made for a post office at "Skeas". The postal authorities suggested that first some proper name should be adopted for the dis- trict. From 1837 it had been called after the proprietor gen- eral sture, Edward Sia, who in partnership with a man named MacDonald, did business! in an establishment situated on the brow of the hill, at the pres- ent corner of King and Simcoe, streets, where a hotel known as the Oshawa House-was located. Later he moved to a building, checkered in black and white squares on the famous 'Four Corners" on the southeast ¢or- ner of King and Simcoe streets where the Laura Secord shop is now located. The wharf at the lake was then known as Syden- ham Harbor. Oshawa Once Was Hamlet As part of Whitby Township the hamlet of Oshawa began to take form, but it was not known by that name for many years. The intersection of what is now known as King and Simcoe streets (The Four Corners) be- came the centre of the com- munity and so it has remain- ed. Edward Skea operated a general store on the present site of the Laura Secord store. By common usage and consent the little village became known as Skea's Corners. It was not until 1849 that: it became the village of Oshawa. GUARANTY TRUST 32 KING ST. E. Open To Serve You knew the state of the mem- bership and the finances of the local and have watched it grow thousand members. It doesn't seem long ago in- they had won a victory over dustry spokesmen laughed from a few hundred to several! Mon. - Thurs. 3 to 5 Friday @ to & Saturday & fe | shi p. t i ing and a pattern department. FITTINGS LIMITED NOW : .. Four Molds Per Minute... from Canada's only twin line of automated matchplate molding machines. More uniform molds. -- and them! The installation of these twin machines Is another mile- stone in the continuing growth of Fittings Limited. Now | in its 65th year this company has established on enviable | reputation for service, quality, dependability and workman- more o The facilities of Fittings Limited include heat treating, tooling, galvanizing, machining, melting, molding, finish- | FITTINGS LIMITED OSHAWA <> ONTARIO SUBSIDIARY @ GALT ------ aoe aan ee - CANADIAN BRASS LIMITED @ MONTREAL We've Told You fashioned service saving prices! is true... UP TO DATE METHODS OF f @ RED DEER | | Yes and you Centennial p have special every week and they will be EXTRA SPECIALS. If you dan't shop at Glecoff's now, come on in and try us... see for yourself, 1867 |! 1967 about our good old and friendly atmosphere! We've given you good old fashioned budget And you know this BUT REALLY WE ARE GOOD OLD FASHIONED SWINGERS AND EMPLOY THE MOST MODERN BRAND PRODUCTS SO WE CAN OFFER YOU ECONOMY FOOD PRICES ALL THE TIME. WE HAVE A PRETTY SWINGING CENTENNIAL PROJECT TOO... you better food buys, because we want you to be able to stretch your food dollars a little farther. We will BUYING OUR NAME WE HAVE LOTS OF EXTRAS AT GLECOFF'S TO MAKE YOUR SHOPPING JUST A LITTLE BIT EASIER. Longer and more convenient hours. We're open M.on to Wed. from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. Thurs., Fri. and Sat. from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. We deliver free with every order over 10.00. We cash pay cheques and baby bonuses. You can shop by phone if you wish, all you have to do is pick up your phone and eall 723-3445 and we'll take down your order and make it up for you and deliver it FREE (if the order is over 10.00). We hove lots of FREE PARKING in the rear of the store. benefit .. . BETTER FOOD BUYS. Our roject is that . ... we are going to offer CENTENNIAL SPECIALS on regularly 174 Ritson Road South HAVE A HAPPY CENTENNIAL YEAR Take Advantage Of Our Centennial Project BETTER FOOD BUYS FOR YOU! -GLECOFF'S supermarket 725-3445