Commission to Inquire into the Labour Dispute at the Windsor Plant of the Chrysler Corporation of Canada : The Commission to Inquire Into the Labour Dispute at the Windsor Plant of the Chrysler Corporation of Canada was established under Order in Council, P.C. 2053, 24 March 1941, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C. 1927, c.99) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon the industrial dispute at the Windsor plant of the Chrysler Corporation of Canada, Limited, directly involving approximately 60 machine operators, assemblers, and precision workers engaged in engine manufacturing and assembly, members of Local 195, United Automobile Workers of America, and any matters or circumstances connected therewith. The commissioner was William H. Furlong.
In November 1940, the Chrysler Corporation of Canada Ltd of Windsor, Ontario introduced fluid drive in some of its new motor vehicles. This required new equipment and assembly and these operations were attached to the Crankshaft Department, No. 95. The men who worked on the fluid drive assembly were already employed in Department No. 95, with the exception of William Patchall, who was transferred from another part of the plant.
A petition protesting Patchall's transfer was drawn up, and by noon, of 7 November 1940, it contained the names of 54 of 61 employees in Department No. 95. The petition read in part:
"We employees of Department 95 protest the fact that a new man was brought in to our Department to work on a 93 job when there are several men with seniority in the department getting 88 per hour.... We therefore urge you to remedy this unsatisfactory condition at once, as we do not intend to tolerate discriminations of this kind."
The employees of Department No. 95 agreed that unless there was an answer from management to their petition, they would go out on strike. Since no reply was received, on 8 November 1940, 38 men belonging to local 195 of the United Automobile Workers of America (UAWA) walked out. The strikers were soon joined by 23 other employees. Eventually, the strikers were dismissed and replaced by other workers, but the UAWA claimed that the men had been unjustly discharged and requested their reinstatement. When the Chrysler plant was picketed, a number of picketers were arrested and fined on charges of loitering on or near a premises declared to be an essential service under the Defence of Canada Regulations. Those sympathetic to labour saw this action as an attempt to curtail union activity.
On 20 November, the UAWA requested that the federal Minister of Labour establish a Board of Conciliation and Investigation under the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (R.S.C., 1927, c.112) to look into the dispute. Without a formal application detailing the issues, the Minister would not act because it was unclear whether or not a Board should be established. An application was filed later and, in March 1941, the Labour Gazette reported:
"the applicants request reinstatement of employees alleged to be unjustly dismissed and the establishment, through collective bargaining of grievance machinery to deal with future disputes."
At last, the Minister of Labour was ready to deal with the dispute and on 24 March 1941, he appointed a royal commission under William H. Furlong to inquire into and report on it. (See: Labour Gazette, December 1940, p. 1243 and March 1941, p. 209; and report of William H. Furlong on the Labour Dispute at Chrysler Corporation).
Hearings were held in Windsor from 28 April to 21 May and on 31 May. Further hearings were held on 12 and 24 June and on 21 August 1941. RG33-123 General Inventory
