Post-war Peace

The period after World War Two, from the mid-1940s until the early 1970s, was the beginning of a long stretch of prosperity and important gains for labour unions and working people. It was also a period of great political and social change, from the founding of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961 (the successor to the CCF), to the establishment of medicare, to the birth of women’s-rights and civil-rights movements around the world.

Unionization rates in both the public and private sectors grew after the spike in union organizing during the war. In 1967, the federal government passed the Public Service Staff Relations Act, which extended collective bargaining rights to government workers. The majority of these workers now had the right to collectively bargain.

Local 5 members Cliff Thompson and Robert Braid on the job, ca. 1955. Courtesy of Ed Thomas.
Local 5 members Cliff Thompson and Robert Braid on the job, ca. 1955. Courtesy of Ed Thomas.