= The CLC-adopted ae called for
the fullest processing of raw resources in
Canada. wu cot coLtection - LocaL 1-80

Founding CLC convention laid out
‘labour’s aims for a better life’
Fifty-years ago, the CLC instituted a
29 point platform of principles for
social and economic progress. It
was then referred to, by the IWA, as
laying out “labour aims for a better
life for all Canadians.” Many points
resoun' day including: a Merona

sector, which would provide union
security and check-off; the abolition
of child labour in Canada; a
National Forty Hour Work Week Act;
a national Vacation and Holiday Act
providing a minimum two weeks
paid vacation and stat holidays for
all workers; public ownership of
public utilities; rationalization of
banking and credit services; full
support for producers’ and con
sumers’ cooperatives and credit
unions; planned immigration for full
employment; conservation and
development of national resources
for the benefit of the people, with
the fullest possible processing of
raw resources in Canada; maximum
international trade with protection
for Canadian living standards; and
the reservation of coastal and inter-
coastal trade for a Canadian-built
merchant marine.

NATIONAL

CLC has half century to be proud about

This year marks the 5oth
anniversary since the merger of
the Canadian Congress of Labour
and Trades and Labour Congress

The Canadian Labour Congress
surpassed its 50th anniversary this
Created one year after
American trade unionists merged
the American Federation of Labour
and the Congress of Industrial
Organizations to form the AFL-CIO,
the foundation of the CLC followed
a similar path.

The CLC was created by merging
the Trades and Labour Congress
(TLC) and the Canadian Congress of
Labour (CCL). The United
Steelworkers, the IWA and other
major unions, including railway
workers, auto and electrical workers,
belonged to the CCL, which repre-
sented industrial unions. The TLC,
a craft union-based body, formed
way back in 1863, brought the bulk
of the membership to the merger.

Prior to the formation of the CLC,
the two national labour bodies had a
two-year no raiding agreement. The
merger built strength in
Canadian labour movement by put-

E

ting a halt on inter-union rivalries. It
also made post WWII labour more
politically active as it fought for dem-
ocratic, social and economic reforms.

The CLC affiliated to the CCF
(Cooperative Commonwealth Federation)

I role in the estab-
lishment oft the New Democratic Party of
Canada, only five years later.

In July of 1962, the CLC’s support of
Tommy Douglas’ universal health care
reforms in Saskatchewan was crucial
in defeating right wing attacks. By the
end of the 196os, universal medicare
was a national reality.

The first CLC president was
Quebec born Claude Jodoin, a former

president. Jodoin served for 10 years.

The CLC has played a key role in
uniting labour on national issues: the
fight for universal pensions, medicare,
health and safety laws, overtime and
holiday pay, and other progressive
social and economic legislation. Today
ithas some 3 million members, provin-
cial and territorial feds of labour, and
135 district labour councils across the
country,

38 | JUNE 2006 THE ALLIED WORKER