Fonds consists of records that document the Canadian Food and Allied Workers (CFAW) and predecessor unions including the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee (PWOC), United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (AMCBW). The records document labour relations with employers, negotiations and collective bargaining, the Canadian National Office, correspondence and communication with the head office of the International union, collective agreements, and other activities.
Photographs in the fonds depict meetings, banquets and other union events, documenting the union at the local, provincial, national and international levels. Fonds also includes photographs related to the fur industry union and related labour unions.
Canadian Food and Allied Workers. National Office : In 1939, the Packinghouse Workers Organizing Committee (PWOC) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) began organizing workers in Canadian meat processing plants. The Canadian Committee, first under the direction of Charles H. Millard and later Fred Dowling, established new locals in large Toronto and Vancouver meat processing firms and re-organized plants in other cities that had been affiliated with other federations. In 1943, the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) was formed and Canada became a major portion of its District 10, with Fred Dowling elected as the first Director. In 1946-1947, the UPWA established the principle of company-wide collective bargaining with Swift Canadian, Burns and Canada Packers. Subsequently, the union expanded its jurisdiction into other food processing industries and related fields.
In 1958, Canada became the sole territory of a newly organized District 8. The name of the union was changed in 1961 to the United Packinghouse, Food and Allied Workers to reflect the changing nature of its membership. In 1953, the UPWA and their strongest rival, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen (AMCBW, AFL-CIO), had signed a no-raiding agreement and a merger of the two organizations was almost completed in 1956. In 1968, the finalised the merger. The U.S. section of the new union was called the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen while the Canadian section became the Canadian Food and Allied Workers (CFAW).
In 1979, the AMCBW merged with the Retail Clerks International Union (RCIU) to form the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
