Founded 1940 Members 100,000–50,000 | Date dissolved 1956 | |
Full name Canadian Congress of Labor Native name Congrès canadien du travail Federation merger Canadian Labour Congress | ||
The Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) was founded in 1940 and merged with Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) to form the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) in 1956.
Founding
In 1939, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) supporters were expelled from the TLC, due to the demands of the American-based American Federation of Labor (AFL). This split had to do with the CIO unionizing industrial trades, and the AFL organizing craft trades. The expelled unions included the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, now called the United Steelworkers (USW); United Auto Workers of America, now the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW); and the United Mine Workers (UMWA). They negotiated with the All-Canadian Congress of Labour and founded the Canadian Congress of Labour in 1940 to rival the TLC. At its founding, it had 100,000 members, and grew to 250,000 by 1943.
The Congress' founding executive included Aaron Mosher (Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees), Silby Barrett, Sol Spivak, and Charles Millard (Steelworkers). They were all members of the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) political party. They were united in the belief that labour should be involved in politics.