Collection search - Thomson, Ethel - Interview

CONDÉ, Carole & Karl Beveridge

1989-0329

Sound

2 of 2

1982-09-01

Carole Condé (Interviewer)
Karl Beveridge (Interviewer)

Oral history interview by Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge of Ethel Thomson, former worker at General Motors of Canada, Oshawa, Ontario, and founding member of the Women's Auxiliary of the United Automobile Workers. Thomson begins by recalling her childhood in Scotland and the family's move to Canada in the 1920s. She also talks about the working conditions at G.M. in the 1930s and her reasons for becoming active in the trade union movement. Other topics include the attitude of G.M. workers toward the union in the 1930s, the influence of the Communist Party in the trade union movement, the strike at G.M. in 1937, and the difficult working conditions experienced by the women involved in war work at G.M. during World War II.

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY WORKERS~ONTARIO~STRIKES & LOCKOUTS~TRADE UNIONS~TRADE UNIONS & COMMUNISM~WAR WORK~WOMEN~GENERAL MOTORS OF CANADA~INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS OF AMERICA (CIO)

English

Open

~Open

Permission from copyright holders required for reproduction. ~Copyright: Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge.~Credit: Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge Fonds / Library and Archives Canada