Deck 3: The History of the Canadian Labour Movement

Question 1

All but which one of the following factors tended to retard the development of an independent Canadian labour movement?

A)the fragmentation of the movement into separate English- Canadian and French- Canadian movements
B)lack of natural resources
C)employer opposition
D)sparse population
E)outside control over the Canadian economy

Answer 1

B

Question 2

All but which one of the following statements about American industrial unionism is true?

A)It centred on mass production industries.
B)It met with the early approval of the AFL.
C)It would seek to organize all the workers within any given industry.
D)It organized unskilled and semi- skilled workers.
E)It relied on political action.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The rise of One Big Union was primarily the result of

A)a surge in the availability of unskilled workers.
B)a rapid increase in union membership after the First World War.
C)a split in the labour movement between Western- based radicals and conservative craft unionists.
D)an increase in strike activity across Canada.
E)the failure by unionists to elect a member of Parliament on a labour ticket.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

All but which one of the following statements about immigrant urban workers and agricultural workers during the 1960s and early 1970s is false?

A)They generally worked very long hours.
B)All received at least the minimum wage.
C)Their rights were well protected by government health and safety and minimum wage inspectors.
D)All worked under reasonable conditions.
E)They generally had adequate sanitary facilities.

Question 5

All but which one of the following helps explain the large number of Canadian breakaways from American international unions during the 1960s and '70s?

A)Canadian unionists' opposition to the Vietnam War
B)disagreement over bargaining and strike strategy
C)complaints about the poor servicing and inadequate funding of Canadian branches of the internationals
D)the CLC's establishment of autonomy guidelines for the Canadian branches of international unions
E)the American unions' dislike of their Canadian members' support for the NDP

Question 6

Strong public support for Labour Unions developed over a series of railway strikes because

A)railways were the main form of transportation for workers.
B)railways were the largest employer.
C)both the Unions and General Public wanted the railway monopoly to be publicly owned.
D)an increasingly favourable political environment.
E)poor work conditions in the industry.

Question 7

Inmates of the federal government's depression- era relief camps lived and worked under military- style discipline in every way save one:

A)They were well- paid.
B)They didn't wear uniforms.
C)They enjoyed freedom of assembly.
D)Most of their time was their own to use as they saw fit.
E)They enjoyed freedom of speech.

Question 8

What was the most important reason why Mackenzie King adopted PC 1003 in 1944?

A)King's recognition that the IDI Act had become seriously inadequate
B)his lifelong sympathy for workers and unions
C)fear of defeat by the CCF
D)the National War Labour Board's report in 1943
E)a wave of bitter,often bloody wartime strikes

Question 9

Quebec granted its employees the right to strike

A)slightly before the federal government did.
B)sixteen years before the federal government did.
C)ten years after the federal government did.
D)in the same year as the federal government did.
E)twenty- five years after the federal government did.

Question 10

All but which one of the following statements about the Berlin Convention is true?

A)It set Canadian unionism on a moderate political course.
B)It resulted in the expulsion of the remaining Knights of Labor assemblies from the TLC.
C)It led to closer links between Canadian and American unions.
D)It may have heightened some unions' radicalism.
E)It decentralized power within the Trades and Labour Congress TLC),giving eastern and western unions more power.

Question 11

The most important cause of the Canadian Federation of Labour's departure from the Canadian Labour Congress was

A)the CLC's granting of partial autonomy to its Quebec wing,the Quebec Federation of Labour.
B)CFL President James McCambly's personal dislike for CLC President Dennis McDermott.
C)the CLC's support for and affiliation with the NDP.
D)the CLC's refusal to adopt a block voting pattern similar to that of the AFL- CIO.
E)Quebec's 1976 election of a separatist provincial government.

Question 12

Discriminatory hiring practices that preferred Irish labourers over French- Canadian labourers were primarily caused by

A)the lower wages that could be paid to Irish workers.
B)French- Canadians desire to become self- employed.
C)the lack of training provided to Quebec workers.
D)French- Canadians desire to emigrate to New England.
E)Lower Canada's Legislative Assembly desire to Anglicize Quebec through immigration.

Question 13

Which of the following statements about the "Rand Formula" is false?

A)It helped ensure unions' survival by giving them a firm financial basis of support.
B)It required workers to join unions that had been certified for their bargaining units.
C)It recognized that all bargaining unit members,whether union members or not,benefitted from the union's efforts in their behalf.
D)It resulted in widespread adoption of the "dues checkoff."
E)It resulted from a strike at Ford Motor Company.

Question 14

The CCF was the forerunner of which of these parties?

A)Reform
B)Socialist Labour
C)Social Credit
D)NDP
E)Rhinoceros

Question 15

Which of the following did American workers not gain as a result of Franklin D.Roosevelt's "New Deal"?

A)the right to bargain collectively and to strike
B)a legislated eight- hour day
C)a labour board to police unfair labour practices
D)a legislated six- hour day
E)social security benefits generous enough to allow older workers to retire with dignity

Question 16

Which of the following years most closely corresponds to the beginning of organized labour strife in Canada?

A)1845
B)1887
C)1650
D)1914
E)1945

Question 17

What was the most significant and enduring feature of the Industrial Disputes Investigation IDI)Act?

A)its establishment of a labour board to deal with unfair labour practice complaints
B)its short life
C)its requirement of a conciliation board report and cooling- off period before a strike or lockout could become legal
D)its granting of collective bargaining rights to workers in certain industries
E)its voluntary nature

Question 18

Which word best describes the strategy used by the Communist Party within the Canadian labour movement during the 1920s and 1930s?

A)consistent
B)nationalistic
C)straightforward
D)opportunistic
E)reactionary

Question 19

Which one of the following statements about the Winnipeg General Strike and its aftermath is false?

A)It was suppressed with great brutality.
B)It effectively marked the end of the radical labour movement in Canada.
C)Its leaders were arrested,jailed,and threatened with deportation.
D)It was a purely political strike unrelated to anybody's collective bargaining objectives.
E)It sparked a wave of 30 sympathy strikes across the country.

Question 20

Which of the following statements about the Industrial Workers of the World "Wobblies")is true?

A)They supported the idea of a general strike.
B)They placed faith in collective bargaining and political action.
C)Their main appeal was to skilled workers.
D)They provided their members with a limited range of services.
E)Most of their members could vote.

Question 21

Why did most early unions operate as "friendly societies" providing mutual insurance of various kinds?

Question 22

What have been the forces driving the recent wave of union mergers and consolidations?

Question 23

Why was the American Federation of Labor AFL)particularly interested in organizing Canadian workers around the turn of the century?

Question 24

How have the two free trade agreements into which Canada has entered in the past decade affected the country's labour movement?

Question 25

Why was the establishment of the Congress of Industrial Organizations so important?

Question 26

Why did many Canadian workers wish to affiliate with U.S.based international unions?

Question 27

Why did the non- confrontational nature of early unions become more confrontational beginning in the 1830s?

Question 28

All but one of the following helps explain why the 1920s were difficult years for the Canadian labour movement.

A)the "American Plan" which essentially promoted company unions
B)the election of labour members to provincial legislatures,often as part of coalition farmer- labour governments
C)continuing high levels of immigration
D)a renewed wave of employer repression
E)a severe depression at the beginning of the decade

Question 29

What were some of the most important impacts of the PSSRA,beyond the specific rights provided for in the bill?

Question 30

What impact did the IDI Act have on union growth?

Question 31

What was th e "Rand Formula"?

Question 32

All but which one of the following reasons helps explain why Canadian workers often found U.S.- based international unions attractive?

A)the underdeveloped state of the Canadian labour movement
B)the internationals' bigger strike funds
C)the fact that the internationals had more experienced organizers
D)the inherently superior nature of American labour leadership
E)the fact that many Canadian workers were forced to move to the U.S.for at least part of the year

Question 33

What was the most important difference between the round of wage- price controls introduced in 1975 and the round introduced in the early 1980s?

Question 34

Most people say that the Canadian industrial union movement was launched as the result of a strike in

A)Winnipeg.
B)Montreal.
C)Kitchener.
D)Sault Ste.Marie.
E)Oshawa.

Question 35

Which of the following was the most significant reason for the slower development of effective labour organization in Quebec as opposed to English Canada?

A)subordination of craft fellowships into Roman Catholic Church religious confraternities
B)Quebec authorities suppression of collective activity
C)French- Canadian dislike of employee status
D)most French- Canadians sought economic independence
E)restraint of competition controls

Question 36

What was the significance of the "Common Front" established by the three biggest Quebec labour federations for public sector negotiations in 1972?

Question 37

In what ways did young "Baby Boomer" workers entering the workforce for the first time in the 1960s and '70s cause difficulties for their union leaders?

Question 38

What was different about Quebec's confessional unions of the early 1920s?

Question 39

Aside from employer and government opposition,what special obstacles has the Canadian labour movement been confronted with?

Question 40

Which of the following was NOT a key period of expansion for the Canadian labour movement?

A)the end of World War I
B)the end of World War II
C)the 1880s
D)the period from 1965 to 1975
E)the late 1950s and early 1960s

Question 41

The Canadian Federation of Labour,formed during the early 1980s,continues to exist as an independent labour federation.

Question 42

Government has generally played an important role in the development of the Canadian labour movement.

Question 43

Most 19th century factories were clean,well- lighted,and safe.

Question 44

Today the Canadian labour movement is arguably in the strongest position it has been in since the Second World War.

Question 45

The World War II period was unfavourable to Canadian union membership growth.

Question 46

The labour movement developed later in Quebec than in the rest of Canada.

Question 47

The Berlin Convention forged closer links between the Canadian and American labour movements.

Question 48

World War I had no lasting effect on Canadian union membership levels.

Question 49

What rights were provided,and to whom,by PC 1003?

Question 50

Canadian unions are engaging in mergers and consolidations that in some ways resemble those of Canadian businesses.

Question 51

Almost all working Canadians shared equally in the wave of postwar prosperity.

Question 52

Collective bargaining and grievance- handling were not major functions of early Canadian unions.

Question 53

The most important Canadian political development during the 1930s was the formation of the
CCF.

Question 54

Communists played a key role in unifying the Canadian labour movement.

Question 55

The character of the Canadian labour movement remained unchanged during the 1960s.

Question 56

The character of the labour movement has changed more,and more rapidly,in Quebec than in most of the rest of Canada.

Question 57

The brand of unionism practiced by Quebec's Catholic confessional)unions during the 1920s and 1930s was of a fundamentally different nature from that practiced by the internationals at that time.

Question 58

The link between the NDP and the labour movement in Ontario is as strong now as it was 15 years ago.

Question 59

By the late 1960s,most Canadian workers enjoyed substantial protection against the adverse effects of technological change.

Question 60

The Canadian labour movement was influenced by the American Wagner Act during the 1930s.

Question 61

Explain why the Quebec labour movement was even slower to develop than the labour movement in the rest of Canada.

Question 62

Increased industrialization was an important factor in late 19th century Canadian union growth.

Question 63

The Canadian labour movement has largely resolved the tension between itself and the NDP created by such things as the Ontario social contract.

Question 64

Discuss the barriers to the formation of an independent Canadian labour movement,including both those which the Canadian movement has shared with labour movements in other Western industrialized countries and those unique to Canada.

Question 65

The Canadian labour movement was one of the latest to develop in the industrialized world.

Question 66

The "First Industrial Revolution" marked the beginning of modern trade union strategy.

Question 67

The virtual demise of Communism in Canada increased support for the CCF party.

Question 68

The Knights of Labor excluded many groups from membership.

Question 69

Why can all aspects of today's Canadian labour movement be characterized as "intermediate"?

Question 70

Discuss the events leading first to the formation and,later,to the collapse of the Canadian Federation of Labour 1982- 97).

Question 71

How did the size and character of the Canadian labour movement change during the 1950s and early 1960s?

Question 72

Discuss the significance of the Berlin Convention 1902).