For some reason, in the spring of 1967, the Operating Engineers Local 793 withdrew from the Council of Trade Unions. The Council had been founded in 1959 by Local 793, Teamsters Local 230, and Local 183 to jointly negotiate for roads, and sewer and water-main construction, sectors which were represented by large contractors’ associations. My guess was that Herb Ingram, business manager of 793, wanted a free hand to negotiate an agreement for his own local and that he considered the rest of us a burden. Ingram was able to reach a fair settlement for his union without a strike but we were not so fortunate.
The employers’ proposals to us were far inferior to the contract signed by the Operating Engineers and it forced us to strike. We lined up against three contractors’ associations: the Heavy Construction Association (Toronto), the Metropolitan Toronto Road and Builders Association, and the Metropolitan Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association. All three were represented by Stan Dinsdale, the astute management labour lawyer. The employers in each association were tough people, conservative and experienced fighters. This would be no easy battle.
The employers were not anti-union, just old-school. It was easier to pull a tooth from them than to get a few cents more an hour. They were convinced our demands were cooked up by the union and not reflective of what their employees were directing us to do. By settling with the Operating Engineers, they were trying to divide and weaken us. At that time, we represented a majority of their employees since the industry was not as mechanized as it is today. Just before the strike, Gallagher fell ill and was hospitalized. Being the secretary treasurer, the second-ranking position with the local, I had to take responsibility to direct the labour dispute. I was twenty-six years old. Reilly, of course, was of great assistance, as always, and we held weekly meetings at the Lansdowne Theatre and rented the basement of a church at Dundas and Keele for our strike headquarters.
Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of Irvine and Zanini, I did not use any flying squads but instead used just two members for picket duty at various job sites because the propensity for violence was too great and violence would bring bad publicity which would ultimately hurt our cause. You cannot force workers not to go to work unless they truly believe in the justness of a strike and willingly refuse to cross a picket line.
We were highly successful. Our members fought bravely. Most of them had just come off a long spell of winter unemployment and had big financial burdens and families to support. Many had been in Canada only a few years and most were Italian immigrants. I was in awe of their will to fight, knowing the financial conditions most were in.
As expected, it was a tough strike. We tried our best to help those members who desperately needed financial assistance, setting up a committee to evaluate the numerous requests for aid. We, the union officers, gave up our pay for the duration of the strike to help those in need and towards the end our finances also dried up. Still, we were always game for a laugh. I remember a contractor had a horse running at Woodbine Racetrack named Hail Mary. He called us and said that his horse looked good. We understood that as an insider’s tip and Reilly and I took a short break from our long days to go to the track to bet a few dollars. The horse won and paid well. When we got back, I called the contractor and told him that now we were in a position to carry on with the strike for a few more weeks because we had bet all the money left in the strike fund and made a killing on his horse.
The strike lasted for seven long weeks. It ended only after the employers were fully convinced that our proposals were from their employees and not a figment of our imaginations. Months later I found out that in the sixth week of the strike, the contractors sent some of their most trusted working foremen to our meetings. All of them reported back to each contractor the same story: the members were the ones who were making the wage demands and who wanted to fight on. After a long day-and-night negotiating session at the Ministry of Labour at 8 York Street we reached a tentative settlement. We got an 85-cent-an-hour increase each year for three years along with improvements in working conditions. Today, that may not look like a lot but in those days it was a fair settlement.
I will never forget the day the agreement was ratified. Many members broke down in tears. They took me on their shoulders and carried me in triumph around the Lansdowne Theatre. The strike of 1967 was an important milestone in the history of Local 183 because it was the first time we had fought alone and won. We gained the respect of our opposition, of the employers, and of other construction unions. We were coming of age.