Austerity and Struggle

In the early 1970s, the province enacted legislation that introduced new regional government structures. In Hamilton, city workers were divided into two groups: The city retained the street and sanitation departments, parks and recreation, cemeteries, golf courses and ski hills, while the new Hamilton-Wentworth regional government took over the sewer and water department and the regional roads and highways that passed through the city.

As economic uncertainty grew, workers’ gains were eroded. Many large-scale strikes were held across the country as working people fought back against the cuts. On March 13, 1975, the Hamilton and District Labour held a mass rally against the government’s wage control program. Many union Locals, including 5 and 167, attended the rally. And on March 22, 1976, the Canadian Labour Congress held a similar rally in Ottawa, which many Hamilton civic workers attended.

For civic workers, like other workers, it was a constant battle to keep up with inflation and government cutback legislation. Locals 5 and 167 bargained contracts in the 1970s that pushed wages up by 18% over two years, as inflation rates crept into the double digits.

On July 11, 1973, after a number of fruitless bargaining sessions with the city, Local 5’s garbage workers walked off the job. The 1973 strike was the biggest job action in the Local’s history: It lasted 68 days, until September 17. Emergency dump sites were set up across Hamilton. On July 30, Local 167’s inside workers joined the picket lines and, later, so did the Board of Education workers, Local 1344.

The main issues were wage parity with Toronto civic workers and a cost-of-living allowance that would help wages keep up with runaway inflation. This would require increases of 15.6%, or 58 cents an hour in one year. Wage rates at the time for garbage workers ranged from 3.58 to $4.36 an hour.

As the strike wore on, many Hamiltonians rallied around the strikers, as they had more than two decades earlier. Thousands of people signed a petition asking city council to get back to bargaining in good faith and to include a cost-of-living allowance for garbage collectors. Others brought food to the picketers and joined them on the lines.

The long summertime strike did test some Hamiltonians’ patience, however, as garbage piled up and no end to the strike was in sight. On July 19, the Hamilton Spectator reported that “the city’s emergency dump at Wellington and Wilson streets developed into a battleground today as an army of neighborhood mothers and children tried to prevent people from dumping there.” “Don’t put garbage on our lawn” signs sprouted up at the makeshift dumps as the strike wore on.

By August, Locals 5 and 167 had begun working together to negotiate with the city during the strike, as it became clear that a coordinated approach would help them better achieve their goals. In the end, after numerous bargaining sessions, the strikers did realize some important gains. Their new contract included wage increases of 19.15% over the two-year contract period, or an additional $20 a week for each worker.

Although the Locals had begun to work together near the end of the strike, it was clear by the time the strike ended that both Locals needed a better, more coordinated approach.

In January 1974, a joint meeting was held between officials of Local 5, Local 167, Local 1344, and CUPE representatives. A new coordinating committee structure for negotiations was set up. It had three stated goals: to achieve common expiry dates, uniformity in bargaining goals and contract proposals, and joint bargaining sessions, when possible. This new “unity of purpose” would, CUPE hoped, help the Locals better prepare for negotiations, and win more at the bargaining table.

In May 1989, workers at the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) walked off the job and into their first — and only — strike. Although the strike lasted just 10 days, it won important gains and was an education in solidarity for the unit’s members. Local 5 members from other units actively supported the RBG strikes, joining them on the picket line in a coordinated effort to keep the entrances to the gardens covered.

The RBG was one of Local 5’s smaller units, with a full-time workforce of just 30 people. This was complemented by seasonal workers and students during the summer months. The unit had evolved out of the City of Hamilton’s Parks Board, and the RGB itself was funded through the city.

What sparked the walkout was the RBG’s refusal to match the wage increases and benefits achieved by workers at the city. Job classifications and wage disparities were also key issues.

Although it was a short strike, it was a difficult one for workers, students, and volunteers at the RBG. Many seasonal employees were recent immigrants. Some of the summer students crossed the picket lines for fear of losing their jobs. And relationships between workers and volunteers became strained as some volunteers refused to honour the picket lines.

In the end, the RBG workers achieved everything they had been seeking. Wage disparities were reduced or eliminated, and new job classifications were put in place.

Locals 5 and 167 did achieve other gains during this difficult era. In 1980, Local 5 became the first CUPE Local to successfully negotiate paid leave for union training. Employers would contribute one-half cent per hour for each employee in the bargaining unit.to a central fund for this training. Under the plan, the education department provided a residential training program consisting of 20 days of classroom time.

The membership of both Locals continued to grow. By 1985, Local 167 had five bargaining groups: the City of Hamilton, the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth, Health, Macassa Lodge, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). In 1979, Local 2171 Flamborough merged with Local 5. And in 1980, Local 5 signed up Third Sector Recycling workers.

The Locals’ activism and outreach efforts also grew. In 1984, for example, CUPE National created a remembrance day for workers killed or injured on the job. The Day of Mourning, a United Nations initiative spearhead by Local 5 member and activist Ed Thomas, honours workers killed or injured on the job. Today, the Day of Mourning is commemorated around the world by approximately 130 countries on April 28.

By the late 1970s, equity and diversity had become key issues for CUPE. Statistics from 1982 showed that women earned just 59% of what men in similar jobs earned. In 1986, the province of Ontario enacted pay equity legislation. And in 1988, the City of Hamilton and region enacted its first pay equity plan. Job classes for all 7,000 employees, 52% of whom are women, were assessed by union and management representatives for inequities.

As early as the 1930s, inside workers, through their General Staff Association, were protesting regulations that forced married women to resign. And in the 1950s, Local 5’s Outsider newsletter urged members to have zero tolerance for racist jokes.

Efforts to include more diverse voices at conventions, on committees, and at the bargaining table also ramped up during this era. In 1988, CUPE created the Rainbow Committee to help address diversity issues. One of its founding members, Local 5 activist and President Fred Loft, was instrumental in the committee’s work and outreach.

As the 1980s drew to a close, both Local 167 and 5 had achieved a lot against a difficult backdrop of deep cuts and runaway inflation. But even darker clouds were on the horizon.