PhD Oral Exam - Thomas MacMillan, History

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

In the 1970s, segments of the women’s movement turned to union organizing to improve working conditions and challenge patriarchal control over the workplace. Many workplaces, primarily staffed by women, were either ignored or dismissed by male-led organized labour. Into this void stepped activists with roots in the fights for abortion rights and against the Vietnam War. These feminist-inspired unions organized highly democratic organizations which sought to closely mirror the consciousness-raising groups which characterized the women’s liberation movement. Workers in university offices, legal service non-profits, daycares, restaurants, and beyond joined feminist unions. These ‘pink-collar’ workers won impressive gains for themselves and for other working women, including the first collective bargaining agreements in Canadian history which guaranteed fully paid maternity leave for clerical and support staff at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. This movement organized across national boundaries, with its strongest elements found in the metropolitan regions of North America’s West Coast.

The feminist union movement faced hostility from several different groups, including management, government officials, and the mainstream labour movement. In Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) stymied the organizing of SORWUC and its successful bank worker organizing drive. Clashes with management, an increasingly unfriendly labour relations system, and opposition from male-led organized labour led to the movement’s dissipation in the early 1980s. This thesis argues that through egalitarian structures, a willingness to challenge the prevailing notion of who belonged in the labour movement, and deep ties to existing social movements, feminist unions on the West Coast left a lasting impact on organized labour. By challenging organized labor and the mainstream women’s movement, these organizations pushed both to pay closer attention to the needs of low wage working women and other marginalized groups.

This dissertation is an intervention into the history of social movements in twentieth century North America, particularly Canadian and United States labour history; the working class did not die in the 1970s but was transformed by the class and gender struggles of marginalized workers. By taking a transnational lens, it challenges prevailing nationalist frameworks.