The following excerpts from the history of the labour movement in Canada is adapted from material prepared by the Education Department of the Canadian Labour Congress and are used courtesy of the CLC.

Labour unions have existed in Canada since the early 1800s. There is a record of some skilled tradesmen having a union organization in Saint John, N.B., during the War of 1812.

Trade unionists say there is significance in the fact that one of the earliest records of union organization in Canada is found in legislation adopted in Nova Scotia in 1816 that made it extremely difficult for workers to form unions. The preamble to this act referred to union activity in Halifax and other parts of the province as being illegal.

But despite this opposition, groups of workers in many parts of the country formed their own organizations during the first half of the 1800s. These included printers in Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and Hamilton; shoemakers in Montreal and Hamilton; carpenters, shipwrights, seamen, stonecutters, blacksmiths, painters, bakers, tailors and others.

Among them were workers in some trades that have since almost disappeared -- for example, sailmakers and coopers (barrel makers).

Many tradesmen who came from Britain -- and this was a period of considerable immigration -- brought with them the traditions of the older British trade union movement. As a result, in the early days of Canadian unionism, there was an international relationship with Britain. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners were British trade unions which at one time had branches in Canada.

Gradually, however, the ties between workers in Canada and those in similar occupations in the United States became closer. Eventually, the formal relationship with British unions disappeared, to be replaced to a considerable extent by a new and closer association with labour organizations in the United States. This was the beginning of the international trade union movement which is today an important aspect of the Canadian labour scene.

The early growth of trade unions in Canada was slow and sporadic. During the 1800s, there were sharp ups and downs in the economy of the country, and these fluctuations were clearly reflected in the growth and health of the labour movement.

There were periods in which workers looked to their unions to protect them against wage cuts, rather than seeking increases. The matter of apprenticeship was also a vital issue; many employers sought to bind apprentices over for a second term in the hope of obtaining help at lower rates than skilled workers received.

It is clear that workers suffered from a deep sense of insecurity and, in some groups at least, there was considerable hesitancy to press with any militancy for better wages or working conditions. For example, a group of printers in Quebec City, attempting in 1833 to obtain wage increases, were quick to give assurance that they would not strike and that they would feel a sense of indebtedness for whatever increases were forthcoming,

Gradually, however, the workers' organizations gained strength and confidence.

A key development came in 1872 when the printers in Toronto decided to mount a vigorous campaign for the nine-hour day. They still worked a six-day week and so what they were seeking was a 54-hour week. Most Canadian workers today work a 40-hour week and some work considerably less.

The Toronto printers were part of a general effort to obtain shorter hours. This was being promoted by what were known as Nine-Hour Leagues in many centres. The Toronto publishers promptly rejected the proposal and countered with a proposal for $10 for a 60-hour week -- about 16 -- cents an hour.

Printer Daniel O'Donoghue

The printers, led by Daniel O'Donoghue, decided to go on strike. The strike became a matter of considerable public concern in Toronto. The publishers' group was headed by George Brown, editor of The Globe and a prominent political figure of the day. Brown had consistently fought the idea of union activity by the printers. On a previous occasion, in 1854, he had invoked the law of conspiracy to lay charges against some printers who engaged in a dispute with the publishers. While the printers were found technically guilty, the judgment of a one-penny fine clearly indicated the court's opinion of the use of this legal technicality.

In the 1872 strike, Brown adopted the same tactics. Just before a mass demonstration in support of the strikers was to be held, he laid formal charges and had 13 of the leaders arrested. The demonstration turned into a mass protest and 10,000 people gathered before the legislative buildings in Queen's Park, Toronto.

Eventually the charges were dropped and the law was changed in 1872 to make unions legal in Canada. The revision of the statutes was sponsored by Sir John A. Macdonald, who saw an opportunity to embarrass his political opponent, Brown. The provision, which made workers liable to charges of conspiracy if they formed unions and acted cooperatively through them, was an old British law which had since been revised. Macdonald initiated similar action in Canada, and the right of Canadian workers to form unions and to act through them to improve their conditions was established.

Even though this provided the legal right to organize, workers were still confronted with strong opposition from employers. For example, in 1885, the Toronto Street Car Co. issued an order forbidding its employees to join a union and threatened to dismiss any who disregarded the order. A three-month strike followed in 1886 but the employees lost.

One of the effects of the 1872 Toronto printers' strike was to strengthen the relationship between various groups of workers. Prior to this time there had been some efforts in this direction, but they were limited and relatively ineffective.

The earlier unions were formed, as a rule, in an effort to meet specific on-the-job problems facing the workers. Each of the unions was a relatively isolated unit concerned with its own particular problems.

But gradually their horizons widened. There were councils of unions composed of workers in particular trades or industries -- construction, shoemakers, printers, etc.

Beyond this, the attempt to use the conspiracy legislation against the Toronto printers alerted all unions to the precarious position they were in. A new awareness grew of the common interest they shared in getting the type of legislation that would establish legally the right of workers to have effective organizations.

As a result, in 1873, the Toronto Trades Assembly, which was an organization of Toronto unions, sent out invitations to the first national convention of Canadian unions. There were then about 100 local groups scattered about the country. The convention was attended by representatives of 31 unions, all in Ontario. The Canadian Labour Union was formed, the beginning of a national labour organization, but it suffered a serious setback when a depression depleted the ranks of unions a few years later.

Another start was made in 1883, and three years later this organization became the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, which was one of the forerunners of the present Canadian Labour Congress, now the major national labour organization in Canada.

Meanwhile, what are now known as labour councils were cropping up in various areas, bringing together the unions in a particular community. At a later stage, provincial federations of labour were formed, performing the same function on a provincial level.

Economic developments naturally had a direct bearing on the growth of trade unionism. In 1852, the second Journeymen Tailors of Toronto was formed to oppose the introduction of the new Singer sewing machine in Toronto tailor shops.

Likewise, the mechanization of the shoemaking industry led to an intensive and interesting spurt of union organization. A shoemakers' union, the Knights of St. Crispin, was formed in the United States and extended into Canada. The organization was named after a Christian martyr who worked among the people and earned his living as a shoemaker.

Shoemaking had been a specialized and highly skilled trade. The new methods enabled production with the use of unskilled or semi-skilled workers. The Knights were not directly opposed to the introduction of new machines but rather to the methods used in their introduction. This led to an organizing campaign among the unskilled, marking an important development in union organization that had previously been largely restricted to skilled trades. The life of the Knights of St. Crispin was limited. Within a few years, the membership declined sharply.

Meanwhile, economic expansion helped many unions grow. During the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway was built. As a result, a number of new unions, most of them international, made their appearance and usually grew rapidly. Most of these are still active on the Canadian labour scene.

One organization that reached prominence but later disappeared was the Knights of Labour. This was an organization that started in the United States and spread to a number of countries, including Canada, where it grew rapidly in the 1880s. One of the characteristics of the Knights of Labour was its efforts to organize unskilled men and women in smaller communities. The success was relatively short-lived. By 1895, it was declining rapidly, except in Quebec.

Another organization that made a dramatic appearance on the Canadian labour scene, but which subsequently disappeared, was the One Big Union. This organization was centred in the West, particularly in Winnipeg, and was set up on the principle of including all workers in one organization.

The 0.B.U. came into existence about the time of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. This is an event which holds an important place in Canadian labour history. Workers in both the building and metal trades were involved, and the issues included the right to bargain collectively and higher wage rates. The general strike was effective, but the government intervened, arresting some of the leaders and threatening to deport those who had come to Canada from other countries. While the outcome was by no means acceptable to organized labour, the employers in the metal industry, who had previously refused to recognize the union, agreed to accept the principle of collective bargaining.

Meanwhile, from 1901 to 1921, a number of small unions had come into being in Quebec under the guidance of Roman Catholic clergy. In 1921, they combined to form the Canadian and Catholic Confederation of Labour, which later became the Confederation of National Trade Unions.

Important developments were also taking place in the larger central body, the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, and other groups that were formed, largely as a result of conflict between skilled trades and industrial workers.

In 1956, the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour merged to form the Canadian Labour Congress. In 1911, there were some 133,000 union members in Canada. Today, the CLC represents 2.3 million unionized workers.