Legislation Department and Government Employees Department files [textual record (some microform)]
-
Record Information – Brief 1
Legislation Department and Government Employees Department files [textual record (some microform)]
- Item ID number:
- 107947
- Hierarchical level:
- Series
- Date:
- 1934-1977.
- Reference:
- R5699-67-3-E, MG28-I103
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Found in:
- Archives / Collections and Fonds
- Item ID number:
- 107947
- Context of this record:
Link to this record
Add to My ResearchLink to this record
This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).Sign in
Sign in to start saving records using My Research -
Record Information – Details - Series includes:
-
3657 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s)
- Date(s):
- 1934-1977.
- Place of creation:
- No place, unknown, or undetermined
- Extent:
-
6.88 m of textual records.
190 microfilm reels positive 16 mm. - Language of material:
- English
- Scope and content:
-
Series consists of files of the Legislation Department and of the Government Employees Department documenting the CLC's relations with government (usually at the federal level) and its efforts to represent the interests of organized workers in such areas as legislation, public policy, programmes, and inquiries such as royal commissions; and its efforts to promote union organization and the right to collective bargaining among government employees.
Major topics include the CLC's annual memorandum to the government of Canada, and other briefs to government; unemployment insurance, the Unemployment Insurance Commission (including appeals cases), pensions, welfare services, and other income security programmes; occupational health and safety, including conferences and relations with health and safety organizations; workers' compensation; labour and collective bargaining legislation; industrial democracy; health services and public health insurance; the human rights movement, including labour human rights committees, human rights commissions and conferences, and non-labour human rights organizations; the status of women; criminology and corrections; government policy in such areas as immigration, housing, poverty, broadcasting, transportation, and taxation; organizations of government employees, such as the Civil Service Federation of Canada, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, postal unions, associations of provincial government employees, and other unions of government employees; issues affecting unionized government employees, such as the right to bargain collectively; barbers' unions; and relations with non-labour organizations with an interest in public and legislative affairs. Included is a collection of memoranda to the government and other briefs and submissions to government by the CLC, its predecessors (the Canadian Congress of Labour, the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, and the All-Canadian Congress of Labour), and other labour organizations. Also included are files on provincial federations of labour, municipal labour councils, and affiliated unions, and their legislative concerns; the CLC's Commission on Constitution and Structure; inter-office correspondence; chronological outgoing correspondence files of Andy Andras, who served as director of both departments; the CLC executive council, standing committees, and conventions; conferences; and general administrative matters. The files contain correspondence, minutes, reports, briefs, submissions, proceedings, speeches, publicity material, print matter, and other material.
For other records pertaining to the Legislation Department and Government Employees Department, see also: the Andy Andras Personal Files series; and the Frank Chafe Files series.
Microfilm reels H-42 to H-56, H-72 to H-78, H-82 to H-83, H-86 to H-88, H-133 to H-140, H-265 to H-291, H-468 to H-489, H-498 to H-510, H-513 to H-517, H-519 to H-523, H-527 to H-530, H-558 to H-575, H-578 to H-580, H-582 to H-583, H-605 to H-607, H-673, H-687 to H-727, H-817 to H-821, H-823 to H-829. - Additional name(s):
- Biography/Administrative history:
-
Canadian Labour Congress. Government Employees Dept : The Government Employees Department was established at the CLC's founding in 1956. It grew out of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada's Permanent Committee on Government Employees. The Government Employees Department's first main goal was the achievement of full collective bargaining rights for government employees at all levels -- federal, provincial, and municipal -- and it also assisted other public employees, such as nurses and teachers, whose right to bargain collectively was restricted. The department assisted affiliated unions that represented such workers, and also sought to influence and to monitor government personnel and labour relations legislation, policy, and practices. A major project in the 1970s was the affiliation of associations of provincial civil servants and the formation of the National Union of Provincial Government Employees. In addition to its core function, the Government Employees Department had some secondary responsibilities in the areas of unemployment insurance, occupational health and safety, workers' compensation, and adult occupational training. Leslie Wismer was appointed the first director in 1956, followed by Andy Andras (1957-1971), Ronald Lang briefly in 1972, and W. Frank Chafe (1972-1976). As the right of government employees to bargain collectively became more prevalent, the need for a department devoted to this goal diminished, and so the Government Employees Department was dissolved in 1976. Frank Chafe continued to fulfill some of the department's functions while also serving in his new capacity as Assistant to the President. For much of their existence, the Legislation Department and the Government Employees Department shared the same director (Andy Andras) and some staff. There was a natural tendency for the two departments to be regarded as one, and sometimes they were referred to as the Legislation and Government Employees Department. They were nonetheless distinct entities. During 1975-1976, the Government Employees Department, the Legislation Department, and the Research Department were associated in a grouping called the Technical Division, for which Frank Chafe served as the overall co-ordinator.
Canadian Labour Congress. Legislation Dept : Seeking to improve the legislative environment for organized workers was one of the earliest roles of labour federations in Canada, dating back to the first Canadian labour centrals established in the nineteenth century. The CLC's Legislation Department (established at the CLC's founding in 1956) continued this historic role, and was central in carrying out the CLC's function of serving as the national legislative voice of its affiliates. Among the department's main activities were informing the federal government, Parliament, and federal boards and agencies of the CLC's positions on legislative issues through its annual Memorandum to the Government of Canada, and through other briefs on specific issues; liaison with the federal government (including ministers and senior officials); the monitoring and study of federal legislation with an impact on workers and the labour movement (in such areas as unemployment insurance, taxation, pensions, labour relations, medicare, trade, and human rights); and assisting affiliated unions with federal legislative issues. Along with the Federations and Councils Department, the Legislation Department also assisted affiliated unions and provincial federations of labour with provincial legislative matters. The director and assistant directors of the Legislation Department also represented the CLC in a number of federal bodies, such as the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Committee, and in non-governmental organizations, such as the Canadian Welfare Council / Canadian Council on Social Development. Leslie Wismer was the first director in 1956, and was followed by Andy Andras who served from 1957 until his death in 1971. Ronald Lang was appointed director in June 1972, and continued as director of the new Research and Legislation Department, which was formed in September 1976 by the merger of the Research Department and the Legislation Department. - Finding aid:
-
(Electronic) All or some of the documents described have been digitized and are available at the following address: (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_107947(Electronic) Les documents décrits ont été complètement ou en partie numérisés et sont disponibles à l'adresse suivante : (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_107947?usrlang=fr - Additional information:
-
- Arrangement note:
- While the Legislation Department and the Government Employees Department were nominally separate entities, in practice for much of their existence (from 1956 until 1972) they shared the same director and assistant directors. There was a natural tendency for records from the two departments to be kept together; while some blocks of files relate exclusively to one department or the other, many blocks (and even some files) contain records documenting the functions of both departments. Because of this intermingling, the records of the two departments have been described as one series.
- Availability of other formats note:
- Certain files available as originals were microfilmed by the CLC as part of its records management programme. The microfilm version of these files was acquired by the National Archives separately from the originals. See Appendix "D" of finding aid MSS492 (part 1) for the details. While the originals and microfilm correspond closely, researchers should not assume that they are identical.
- Source:
- Private
- Former archival reference no.:
-
MG28-I103
-
Ordering and Viewing Options - Conditions of access:
-
Textual records[Consultation90 Open]Volume [MG28 I 103][Consultation 90 Open]264--286;[Consultation 90 Open]306--308;[Consultation 90 Open]421--423;[Consultation 90 Open]464--470;[Consultation 90 Open]522;[Consultation 90 Open]596;[Consultation 90 Open]Textual records: microform[Consultation90 Open]Microfilm reel[Consultation 90 Open]H-133--H-140;[Consultation 90 Open]H-265--H-291;[Consultation 90 Open]H-42--H-46;[Consultation 90 Open]H-468--H-469;[Consultation 90 Open]H-47;[Consultation 90 Open]H-470--H-479;[Consultation 90 Open]H-48;[Consultation 90 Open]H-480--H-489;[Consultation 90 Open]H-49;[Consultation 90 Open]H-498--H-499;[Consultation 90 Open]H-50;[Consultation 90 Open]H-500--H-509;[Consultation 90 Open]H-51;[Consultation 90 Open]H-510;[Consultation 90 Open]H-513--H-517;[Consultation 90 Open]H-519;[Consultation 90 Open]H-52;[Consultation 90 Open]H-520--H-523;[Consultation 90 Open]H-527--H-529;[Consultation 90 Open]H-53;[Consultation 90 Open]H-530;[Consultation 90 Open]H-54--H-55;[Consultation 90 Open]H-558--H-559;[Consultation 90 Open]H-56;[Consultation 90 Open]H-560--H-575;[Consultation 90 Open]H-578--H-580;[Consultation 90 Open]H-582--H-583;[Consultation 90 Open]H-605--H-607;[Consultation 90 Open]H-673;[Consultation 90 Open]H-687--H-719;[Consultation 90 Open]H-72;[Consultation 90 Open]H-720--H-727;[Consultation 90 Open]H-73--H-78;[Consultation 90 Open]H-817--H-819;[Consultation 90 Open]H-82;[Consultation 90 Open]H-820--H-821;[Consultation 90 Open]H-823--H-829;[Consultation 90 Open]H-83;[Consultation 90 Open]H-86--H-88;[Consultation 90 Open]
You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.
Cannot visit us on site? You can purchase a copy to be sent to you. Some restrictions may apply.
- Date modified: