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Autoworkers in Oshawa unionized the General Motors plant in Oshawa in 1937 after a bitterly fought strike that pitted them against a rabidly anti-union government, hostile press and GM corporation. It was a major turning point in Canadian labour history. Crucial factors contributing to the strike's success include the historical background of working-class struggle in the community, patient and courageous prior organizing by Communists, the engaged leadership of rank-and-file GM workers, and the solid support of the United Autoworkers International Union. The author focuses on the voices and actions of rank-and-file workers and on the day-to-day events, many of which have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. Truth Be Told takes down the long-accepted-- but false-- narrative espoused by Irving Abella that the Oshawa workers were " on their own" without significant support from the UAW/CIO leadership and that they would have been better off not to organize under the banner of an international union. It also shows how that narrative fails to grasp the degree to which class struggle organizing principles were crucial to the strike's success. A true understanding of the ' 37 strike provides valuable lessons for people seeking to revive the labour movement today.
About the author
Tony Leah is a long-time union activist with experience in bargaining, shop-floor representation, labour education, and political mobilization. A maintenance and construction welder with GM, Oshawa for nearly 40 years, he has held many positions within the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)/Unifor at both Oshawa Local 222 and on the national level. In the 1996 strike against GM he played a key role in advocating and organizing the occupation of a key GM plant that resulted in winning the strike. And in 1998, Brother Leah led an occupation of the CAW national office to ensure members he represented would not be abandoned and unjustly laid off. From 2000 to 2019, he held responsibility for union education programs with the CAW/Unifor. He also initiated and led the Green Jobs Oshawa campaign that proposed nationalizing the GM Oshawa plant and converting it to the production of battery electric vehicles for government fleets, when GM announced the end of vehicle production there in 2019. Brother Leah is still an active member of his union's Retired Workers Chapter. Editor and author of many articles on labour history and activities, Tony Leah holds an MA in Labour Studies from McMaster University. He lives in Toronto.
