Annie Buller
We’re starting off with a woman who was never afraid to lead and speak up, despite the limiting era she was in. Annie Buller was a political activist and union organizer where she organized the Industrial Union of Needle Trades Workers in Toronto in the 1930s. In 1931, she helped lead a general strike of dressmakers in Toronto’s Garment Industry, and helped organize support for coal miners in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
She is truly a pioneer and is one of the foundational leaders of the Canadian labour movement. She has a tremendous legacy – much too long for me to write about here. But her impact is monumental: “Because Annie worked as a political and union organizer throughout many different parts of Canada, she is well known to significant sections of the working class from the Maritimes, through Montreal, Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. Her contributions among the miners of Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, among the needle trades workers of Toronto and Winnipeg, among the unemployed in their struggles, will forever be recorded in Canada’s working class history.“
Read more about her here: She Never Was Afraid (The Biography of Annie Buller by Louise Watson)
Toronto’s Garment Industry
Annie Buller’s work does hit close to home: her activism was centered in Toronto’s Garment Industry. In the first half of the 20th century, a stretch of seven blocks on Spadina Avenue was home to some 60-80 small factories that operated and thrived on the cheap labour of Jewish immigrants. They also exhibited a seriously concerning lack of regulation. It’s no wonder then that these Jewish workers, led by Annie Buller, unionized and striked against what they referred to as the shmatte (Yiddish for “rag”) business.
The tea though is that these factory owners were also Jewish. This meant a lot of infighting, a lot of messy and strained familial ties, and a lot of drama. Imagine striking against your own father? To make matters more complicated, these Jewish owners actually even brought over other Jews from their homeland, paying for their passage and promising to employ them, to ensure an indebted workforce. All this happened in one neighbourhood. There was so much strife and contradictions in the Jewish community all along Spadina in the garment industry. It’s truly fascinating to learn about.
Read more about Jews in the Garment Industry OR if you find yourself near Bathurst & Sheppard, check out the Ontario Jewish Archives Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre’s exhibit on the Toronto Garment Industry!
Kalmen Kaplansky
Jewish union activism was not limited to Toronto alone. We have Kalmen Kaplansky, a true visionary and union activist from Montreal. He was an executive member of the Montreal Typographical Union (Local 176 of the International Typographical Union); served as a delegate to meetings of the Montreal Trades and Labor Council and Trades and Labor Congress of Canada; was the secretary of the Montreal District Council of the Labor Party of Canada; and was chairman of the Workmen’s Circle in Montreal. Most importantly, he was the Director of the Jewish Labour Committee from 1944 to 1957.
This is a significant period, as this was the height of the Jewish Labour Committee’s fight against discrimination and racial intolerance in several cities in Canada. Kaplansky also sought to ensure inclusion of not only Jewish Canadians (like those Jewish-led unions in the Garment Industry), but French Canadians, African Canadians, and Eastern European workers because he believed that Canadian labour activists were blind and unaware to the extent of racism and discrimination to specific ethnic Canadian communities. Instead of discord within the community, we have now efforts to collaborate and work together, all motivated and led by one man. These committees he fostered played a decisive role in shaping the discussion and eventual laws that lead to the Human Rights and Labour Rights that we get to appreciate today.
Read more about Kalmen Kaplansky.
Jewish Labour Committee
Kalmen Kaplansky’s work to fight discrimination is really outlined by the efforts of the Jewish Labour Committee. In fact, few labour organizations in Canada can really equal the impact the JLC had in fighting discrimination. The JLC also truly understood and fought for inclusion: “Anti-Semitism, anti-Negroism, anti-Catholicism, anti-French or anti-English [sentiments]… and union-smashing are all part of a single reactionary crusade of hatred and destruction.” (JLC Report). In 1947, the Jewish Labour Committee successfully lobbied to pass the first anti-discrimination resolution at the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) to call for “vigorous action” on the part of the CCL and its affiliated unions in the “fight for full equality for all peoples, regardless of race, colour, creed, or national origin”.
This resulted in the creation of committees that combat racial intolerance: Trades and Labour Congress of Canada’s National Standing Committee on Racial Discrimination, as well as Toronto’s first Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance that resulted in Montreal and Winnipeg following suit. Most importantly, it motivated waves of anti-racial discrimination efforts that had a lasting impact in Human Rights legislation all over Canada.
Read more about their legacy here: Jewish Labour Committee.
JLC’s Impact In Dresden, Ontario and on the future
The most notable example of this is in Dresden, Ontario. Let me set the scene: After the Jewish Labour Committee and Canadian Jewish Congress efforts to create anti-workplace discrimination legislation, the talk of the town was workplace discrimination. The town in particular was Dresden, which had a large minority Black population who were excluded from services in town (restaurants, businesses, etc.). The Black community in Dresden did not take that silently, and formed an association to demand a “non-discrimination” requirement for businesses applying for licenses. And they had backup and support from the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Toronto Civil Liberties Association, as well as a coalition of 35 human rights advocacy organizations (trade unions, women’s groups, and ethno-cultural groups).
The Ontario government heard them and passed Canada’s first Fair Employment Practices Act and Fair Accommodation Practices Act. This created ripple effects all over Canada: the fight against discrimination started happening not only in the workplace but in our everyday lives. What started as the Jewish Labour Committee’s fight against workplace discrimination in Ontario lead to a coalition of multiple unions and human rights organizations in combating discriminatory practices all over the Canada. It really goes to show you what a diverse coalition of voices can achieve, and how our experiences truly impact and motivate each other.
Read more about the Dresden Story.
The contributions of Jewish Canadians in Candian labour history is not something to ignore. Their activism created communities not only within their own, but also between all marginalized people, coming together to fight for something better. As May comes to a close, I want to celebrate Jewish Heritage Month by thanking these incredible people fighting for rights and privileges I now get to enjoy. Thank you. And I promise you, we will keep fighting for better as (I’m sure you know) our work is never done.
