Introduction

Watson's Introduction to Union Work
Scope and Content Note: He worked, for a total of twenty years, as a knitter in the full-fashioned hosiery industry. In 1936 his hosiery mill, in London, Ontario, organized itself in order to prevent a wage cut. A sit-down strike prevented the wage cut, but rumors of further attempts to cut wages convinced the workers they needed a permanent organization. When the boss asked the workers who their spokesman was, they pushed Watson forward. This group, on weekends and on their own time, then organized the two other hosiery mills in London and branched out into the province, organizing the Canadian Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers. People were fired, collections were taken up for them, and a couple men were even sent to England because they could not get work in Canada. For the first ten years of its existence, the Canadian Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers affiliated with various unions in an effort “to get a better organization.”

TWUA Came to Canada in 1946
Scope and Content Note: When TWUA came to Canada, the Canadian Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers had about 1,500 members and was affiliated with the United Textile Workers of Canada, which had no relationship to the United Textile Workers of America (UTW) and which had a total of about 4,000-5,000 members. At the time, Watson was hosiery director for the United Textile Workers of Canada. The three groups which came into TWUA at the time were the United Textile Workers of Canada, the Canadian Congress of Labour's Textile Workers Organizing Committee, and the National Union of Textile Workers. In October, 1946, Watson went on TWUA staff. A joint board was formed at London, Ontario, and Watson became its manager.

The Canadian Textile Industry in 1946
Scope and Content Note: It was mainly cotton, woolen, and knitting (underwear, men's hosiery, and full-fashioned hosiery). About 55 percent of the industry was in Quebec, 40 percent in Ontario, and 5 percent in the rest of the country. Today Quebec has an even higher percentage of the industry. Courtaulds had had synthetic operations for some time; nylon and rayon became important during the war.

Hosiery Industry and Hosiery Unionism in Canada in 1946
Scope and Content Note: The full-fashioned hosiery industry was converting to nylon from silk before Canada entered World War II in 1939. After the war, when nylon became plentiful, the conversion from silk was completed. Nylon was cheaper and made a finer stocking. The full-fashioned hosiery industry, which was really only begun in Canada in the 1920s, survived the war pretty well. Nothing equivalent to the American Federation of Hosiery Workers (AFHW) was ever started in Canada. Attempts to do so were unsuccessful and only the Canadian Full-Fashioned Hosiery Workers, begun by Watson's group in London, came close. It was not until TWUA came to Canada that the hosiery industry got proper contracts and certification; previously, there were no checkoff or written contracts. [See 15:20, below, where Watson amends this statement.]

Post-War Organizing Advances
Scope and Content Note: Canada had an equivalent to the United States' War Labor Board, which helped organizing; but it was not nearly as helpful as the United States' Board. The real boom in union organizing in Canada came after the war.

Biographical Background
Scope and Content Note: Born in Woodstock, Ontario, in 1910. Parents had emigrated from Scotland. Father was a tailor. Had two years of high school education and went directly from school into the hosiery mill.

Circumstances Surrounding TWUA Coming to Canada
Scope and Content Note: The hosiery workers were happy to have TWUA, which was invited in by the Canadian Congress of Labour. In the first contract, TWUA negotiators were able to get holiday pay, the checkoff, and other provisions missing from previous hosiery contracts. [Here Watson recalls that they did have contracts before TWUA, “but they weren't very substantial.”] The United Textile Workers of Canada was affiliated with the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (equivalent to the AFL) and some of its larger mills in Cornwall resisted TWUA; elections were held there, however, and TWUA won. Watson feels TWUA was eager to get into Canada.

Early TWUA Leaders in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Jim Bamford and Sam Baron helped negotiate his local's first TWUA contract. The early Canadian leaders were Watson, who became London Joint Board Manager, and Jack Robinson, Hamilton Joint Board Manager. Ed Cluney was brought in from the United States to be Toronto Joint Board Manager; he also served as assistant to Sam Baron, who was made Canadian Director. As soon as the first contracts were bargained, the joint board system was set up.

Canadian Dyeing Industry
Scope and Content Note: There was no dyeing industry as such in Canada; each mill usually did its own dyeing; and dyers, unlike in the United States, were very poorly paid.

TWUA'S Early Growth in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Initially TWUA was concentrated in Ontario. Joint boards were established almost immediately and a good deal of organizing took place during the first few years. Inroads in Quebec came a little later. In 1946 there were about 1,500 members in the London area, 3,000 in the Hamilton area, 3,000 in the Cornwall area, and 2,500 in the Toronto area. Each of these joint boards increased in membership by 40-50 percent within a few years. The Union was never able to establish a base in the West, although it did pick up an independent local in British Columbia after Watson became Canadian Director.

Labor in Canada Still Operates under Provincial Laws
Scope and Content Note: There is a national labor law, but it applies only to railroads, airlines, and the like. If a textile firm has mills in more than one province, these mills are subject to the individual provincial laws. This has not, however, created much of a problem for TWUA, since its locals are concentrated in only two provinces, Ontario and Quebec.

The Development of Dual TWUA Operations in Canada
Scope and Content Note: TWUA policy was to develop staff people locally. It was a little slow in doing this in Quebec - “they had a Quebec director who was from the States for a little longer than they should have, and that created some problems for us.” In Ontario, however, it did not take long to become completely Canadian.

Introduction

More on TWUA'S Dual Operations in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Canada had its own director of education and publicity. This person contributed regular Canadian material to Textile Labor. Because the membership was not very large and yet they had this person, Canadian members received more education services than United States members. One of the Canadian education directors was John Whitehouse, who is now Education Director for the International Labour Organization in Geneva. Canada did not have its own research department. Watson felt a need for this and was trying to develop something along these lines prior to the merger with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers (ACW). With the merger now and the proportionately higher membership of ACTWU in Canada, separate research assistance should be forthcoming. In terms of assistance from the International, Canada always got back more than it paid in.

Bargaining in Canada
Scope and Content Note: The joint boards did the negotiating. It was not done on an industry basis, although there was an attempt to keep termination dates, conditions, etc. uniform throughout an industry. Sometimes a Canadian representative would attend an industry conference in the United States, but only as a visitor. None of the industry directors came to Canada to help bargain. Joint board managers and business agents did the negotiating, with assistance from the Canadian Director when necessary. Contracts for companies with mills in more than one joint board were bargained on a chain basis, with the Canadian office heading up negotiations.

Canadian Director Sam Baron
Scope and Content Note: He received a lot of support from the Canadian members and did a good job in negotiations. During the 1950-52 fight, however, he got “too emotionally tied” to the George Baldanzi group. “He probably had made certain commitments against the International Union that we weren't prepared to support, and then we had the parting of the ways.” Otherwise, he did “a fairly satisfactory job.”

Relations with the UTW in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Sam Baron and Jack Robinson attempted to deliver TWUA membership to the UTW on the condition that the UTW rid itself of Communists. Baron and Robinson were unsuccessful. In fact, during the 1950-52 fight and the secession movement, the TWUA in Canada took more UTW members than vice versa. TWUA had been making inroads on the UTW over the Communist issue prior to this. An example of TWUA's successful raiding of the UTW: York Knitting Mills had three plants in Woodstock (near London). Watson had organized one, another was organized by the UTW, and the third was unorganized. After Watson organized this latter plant, the UTW plant began to complain about lack of servicing, and a TWUA drive was started there. This occurred at the same time that the UTW was ridding itself of Communists, and a new, non-Communist took over the plant just before the election. TWUA, however, won big, with the UTW getting only about three votes out of 300. The workers did not feel the non-Communist leadership would provide any better service than the Communist leadership had. Later, when the Trades and Labour Congress merged with the Canadian Congress of Labour to form the Canadian Labour Congress, raiding stopped.

Valuable Organizing Time Was Lost in Canada Due to the 1950-1952 Internal Fight, and Membership Did Not Peak Until About 1970
Scope and Content Note: Total TWUA membership peaked about 1950. Canadian dues-paying membership did not peak until about 1970, with about 18,000 dues payers. In 1950, there were about 12,000-13,000 dues payers. Canadian textile workers were prime for organizing during the period of the 1950-52 fight, but little organizing was done.

Canada and the 1950-1952 Internal Fight - 1950
Scope and Content Note: In 1950 a large percentage of the membership and all of the joint board managers followed Baron's lead and supported Baldanzi. Just before the convention, Emil Rieve sent a letter explaining the attempt to dump Baldanzi. The Canadian leadership, including Watson, simply did not agree that the reasons given were sufficient and “went to the convention quite disturbed.” The anti-Baldanzi information was received so shortly before the convention that many delegates did not know of the attempt to dump him until they arrived at the convention. They were not anti-Rieve, just pro-Baldanzi.

Harold Daoust Replaced Sam Baron as Canadian Director
Scope and Content Note: As Watson recalls it, Baron was removed because of his overtures to the UTW. He was replaced by Daoust who had orders to build up support for the Rieve faction. Pro-Rieve locals were divided by shop in order to gain more delegates; newly-organized shops, even if part of a chain, were given separate charters for the same purpose.

Canada and the 1952 Convention
Scope and Content Note: Canada was split. Organizers had been given orders to spend their time building support for Rieve and to concentrate on organizing only when absolutely necessary. The Hamilton Joint Board was strongly for Baldanzi; the Toronto Joint Board was strongly for Rieve; and the London Joint Board tried to maintain a pro-Baldanzi neutrality. That is, the London Joint Board favored Baldanzi and contributed to his campaign fund but attempted to carry on normal activities rather than devote too much time to the fight. The London and Hamilton joint boards held a joint meeting of delegates just before the convention, and Baron asked Watson what he would do if Baldanzi lost. They got into quite an argument because Watson would not consider secession. Watson and his delegation voted for Baldanzi at the convention.

Secession in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Votes were held in several locals. There was not much sentiment to secede in the London Joint Board, though there was considerable concern expressed on the way back from the convention about what the future held, especially for Watson.

Introduction

More on Secession in Canada
Scope and Content Note: The London delegates were convinced Watson would be fired, but he advised against secession and convinced the delegates to hold off their decision until they had returned home and held a membership meeting. Watson argued that the delegation had gone to the convention with the understanding that they would not secede if Baldanzi lost; and he also argued that his people had been in and out of many unions, but TWUA was the first effective one they had had. A membership meeting of the Joint Board supported his position. The Hamilton Joint Board and the rest of the Canadian Baldanzi caucus, however, were determined to secede. Watson campaigned against secession in Hamilton and felt he was instrumental in holding a few locals for TWUA, particularly hosiery locals. Some people were sent up from the States to fight secession - mainly technicians, publicity people - but most of the battle was fought by Canadians.

Merger of the London and Hamilton Joint Boards
Scope and Content Note: This was done largely as an economy/efficiency measure. They were about eighty miles apart. Watson was selected as manager for the merged boards, probably because it was felt he would have support of both factions involved in the recently concluded fight. Creation of the London Joint Board had been “a little overambitious.”

Daoust as Canadian Director
Scope and Content Note: He was well accepted and fit in pretty well; he did a good job.

Watson Named Assistant Canadian Director
Scope and Content Note: When Daoust was named TWUA Organizing Director in 1957, Watson was offered the position of acting director, but he did not express much interest in it. Paul Swaity was then named acting director and asked Watson to help him by being assistant director. It was not a very active position. He and Swaity would meet about once a week to discuss things. When Daoust returned, he asked if Watson was “Assistant to the Director” or “Assistant Director.” Watson answered the latter; Daoust said he would prefer the former; and Watson said he would not mind if the whole thing were taken from him. Daoust decided then to leave him with the Assistant Director title. Daoust had wanted the directorship of New England for some time and finally got it in 1964, when Bill Belanger left the Union after the 1964 fight.

The Problem of Imports in Canada
Scope and Content Note: In the United States 10-12 percent imports was considered normal; and, when the ratio of imports to domestic consumption went above ten percent, it was cause for concern. In Canada 40-45 percent was normal, and it got worse as time went on. After World War II, there was a great demand for textiles, and many inefficient, low-wage textile mills sprang up. During the 1950s these inefficient mills could not compete with imports and went out of business. By the mid-1960s, as imports continued to increase, even some efficient plants were put out of business. Imports dropped in the early 1970s due to the energy crisis which created a worldwide shortage in synthetics. This resulted in expansion, but it was only temporary. Imports from the United States, especially in cotton, were always high, but they were not a problem like imports from low-wage countries. The only time imports from the United States were a problem was when end-of-the-year surpluses would be dumped in Canada to avoid upsetting the domestic market. Imports from the United States did not create any tension between the Canadian and United States TWUA membership. In fact, the TWUA leadership was always very supportive of the Canadians' efforts to limit imports.

TWUA and Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP)
Scope and Content Note: TWUA had been one of the top five unions in Canada in terms of support for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the forerunner of the NDP. The NDP was formed in an attempt to broaden the base of support of the CCF, in the hopes of attracting more union support. TWUA affiliated with the NDP, paying a per capita on the number of members who voted for the NDP. It was fourth, behind the Auto Workers, the Steel Workers and the Packinghouse Workers, in the amount of per capita paid. Today it has probably slipped to fifth or sixth. Support for the NDP has been growing lately because of recent federal government attitudes towards groups outside labor.

NDP/TWUA Accomplishments
Scope and Content Note: Three years ago two TWUA staffers were elected on the NDP ticket to the Ontario legislature. The Party has not received enough public support to date, but it has helped labor. At one time three provincial legislatures were controlled by the NDP, but only one is today. On the federal level, David Lewis, the NDP leader, held the balance of power in the last minority government, and the NDP was able then to secure a good deal of legislation. These gains have been maintained, but the government is currently showing signs of wanting to cut back.

Progressive Legislation in Canada
Scope and Content Note: Federal medical plans grew out of NDP-implemented plans in Saskatchewan.

Labor's Clout in Canada
Scope and Content Note: In some areas labor is quite rebellious. Canadian textile wages have risen above those in the United States.

Introduction

Higher Wages in Canada Not Necessarily a Good Thing
Scope and Content Note: “To some extent...we've got a larger clout...in Canada than in the U.S.” Although most labor supports the NDP, other governments have also been responsive to labor. As a result, the minimum wage in Canada is higher than in the United States. This has helped bring about a higher wage in textiles also. Canadian labor, however, is pretty rebellious, and Canadian textile workers resist industrial changes which would make their plants more efficient. This, coupled with the higher wages, could make the Canadian textile industry less competitive with the United States and hurt the industry.

Labor's Rebellious Spirit in Quebec
Scope and Content Note: For years Quebec had been Canada's South, but it is beginning to change. The workers there had been held down for some time, but now they've “got the bit in their teeth.” “There's some pretty radical-minded union leaders in Quebec.” The current government in Quebec - Partie Quebecque, a separatist group - received some labor support and has enacted legislation favorable to the little man, the working man. One reason for the low wages in Quebec in the past was the low percentage of heavy industry there, but that is shifting now.

Organization of Canadian Celanese
Scope and Content Note: Two large plants at Sorel and Drummondville (Quebec) had a company union with which the workers were dissatisfied. After a long battle, they were finally brought into TWUA. They were organized by French-speaking staff.

TWUA Problems in Quebec - Loss of the Celanese Plants
Scope and Content Note: There were about 1,700-1,800 employees at Drummondville and 500-600 at Sorel. These were lost during the separatist movement of the early 1970s, but TWUA should not have lost them. For too long a period of time an American, Bert Demers, was maintained as Quebec director. Even though he was French-speaking, he antagonized many people in Quebec. Watson attended a meeting of Quebec staff who decided to rebel against Demers. Watson toured Quebec with a French-speaking staff person from Ontario to discover the problems and reported to President William Pollock that Demers should be removed and replaced by a native Quebecian. He had a difficult time convincing Pollock of this, but finally Demers was replaced. Unfortunately, the replacement, Wilfrid Essiambre, though a native, was no more acceptable to the members. The Union found this out too late, however. A better person, Jean-Marc Couture, who is currently on the Executive Council, was available; but he had been downgraded by Demers. If he had been named Quebec director, Sorel and Drummondville would not have been lost to the nationalist union, the Confederation of National Trade Unions. It was a bad situation; some staff were not working to help TWUA save the local. The loss resulted from a combination of “our sad staff situation in Quebec” and the separatist group which came in and “promised the moon.” Although the new union there is militant and radical, it has not accomplished much in negotiations. These were the only plants TWUA lost during the separatist and nationalist movement.

Canadian Nationalism and the TWUA
Scope and Content Note: The TWUA has been having Canadian Conferences for at least 28 years. When the wave of nationalism swept Canada and the separatist movement swept Quebec, it was decided to constitutionalize the Canadian Conferences and to permit Canadians to elect their director. [This was accomplished at the 1974 convention.] Much of the nationalist sentiment in unions was led by Communists. The Communists who had been ousted from the UTW retained a few locals and for years had attempted to raid both the TWUA and the UTW. These and other Communist unionists took advantage of the nationalist sentiment. The Steel Workers lost many members in British Columbia. The Paper Workers finally held an election in which the Canadian members voted to form a separate union. The situation in TWUA never got that critical. Watson had long favored the election of the Canadian director; and, with the nationalist movement, the Union finally went in that direction. The selection of a director was still subject to the President's approval. While some Canadians thought this was unnecessary, Watson felt there would not have been any problems even if the Union had not gone to this system of electing the Canadian director.

Canadian-United States Differences on the Viet Nam War
Scope and Content Note: The Canadian Conference passed resolutions condemning the war, while the TWUA conventions passed resolutions supporting the war. At these conventions Watson would make a speech noting the Canadian opposition to the war and then point out that the Canadians would refrain from voting on the Viet Nam resolution.

TWUA Canadian Conferences
Scope and Content Note: These were probably begun because it was thought this was a democratic procedure. Watson was not in a leadership position when these began and took no credit for them, but he did take credit for constitutionalizing them and for providing for the election of the Canadian director. Many Executive Council members objected to these changes. The election of the Canadian director was still subject to the President's approval; it would have been wise to leave this condition out, especially since it is highly unlikely the President would ever disapprove the membership's choice.

Very Few Issues Separated the Canadian and United States TWUA Members
Scope and Content Note: The Viet Nam War is the only issue that stands out for Watson; he could understand the American position, but he could not sympathize with it. Canadians felt they were more advanced than the United States in their health and welfare plans, but used to think they were at a disadvantage in the matter of wages.

Canada during the 1962-1964 Internal Fight
Scope and Content Note: Canada was strongly in favor of the Administration side. The Canadians were satisfied with Pollock's leadership and viewed the Majority group as being out merely to improve their own positions in the Union.

Canadian Organizing While Watson Was Director
Scope and Content Note: He became director in January, 1965, and was elected to the Executive Council in 1966. For the first five years of his directorship, the membership increased steadily, despite plant closings. During those five years the membership increased by about 4,000 members and hit its all-time high about 1970. During the 1970s organizing attempts simply were unsuccessful. The Celanese situation was the low point of Watson's tenure as director.

Introduction

More on Organizing during Watson's Directorship
Scope and Content Note: The successes of the 1965-1970 period and the lack of success during 1970-1975 can be explained only by the fact that 1965-1970 was a better climate for organizing. There was not a lesser effort put forth after 1970, though efforts did diminish after 1975 when two staff persons were elected to public office and were not replaced. If TWUA had had the proper structure and staffing in Quebec in the 1965-1970 period, the successes would have been ever greater.

Canadian Reaction to TWUA Merger with ACW
Scope and Content Note: “They weren't wildly enthusiastic about it.” Some of the leadership “didn't look forward to it.”

Watson's Relationship with His Staff and with William Pollock
Scope and Content Note: Watson always had a good relationship with his staff. His relationship with Pollock was not good from the time before he became director until the early 1970s. The problems mostly stemmed from the Demers incident in Quebec. Pollock thought Watson should be supportive of his [Pollock's] appointee; also, Demers was a good friend of Daoust, the former director. Demers thought Watson was stabbing him in the back, but Watson simply saw the need for a native Quebecian in the post. For a time Watson thought Pollock might fire him; but, after discussions with Watson's staff, Pollock gave up any such notions.

Why Canadians Were Cool toward Merger with ACW
Scope and Content Note: Many staff persons who were unhappy with the prospects of merger kept their opinions to themselves out of respect for Watson and because they knew merger was necessary because of the Union's financial situation. The ACW did not have a very good reputation in Canada; it was considered low wage and inactive, and had a reputation for dealing with the boss. The TWUA, on the other hand, was small, but aggressive. TWUA always had representation on the Ontario Federation of Labour Executive Board; Watson also served as a vice president of the Canadian Labour Congress, while other unions, like the ACW, which were twice the size of TWUA, did not have such representation on either the provincial or the federal labor bodies. Also, TWUA was very active politically.

Legal Difficulties with Merger in Canada
Scope and Content Note: At one point it was feared that the merger would have to be submitted to a referendum of the membership to satisfy Canadian law. Watson brought the TWUA Canadian attorney to the merger convention, and he expressed doubt that all the moves in the merger convention were in accordance with Canadian law. A test case for certification and recognition was required before the Union was sure merger was valid in Canada.

Watson's Opinion of the Merger
Scope and Content Note: While many Canadians would have preferred merger with the Rubber Workers or the Oil, Atomic, and Chemical Workers, he, in retrospect, feels TWUA merged with the right union. Watson was a member of the merger committee of TWUA and had many misgivings at first, but these dissipated as the merger discussions progressed. ACW leadership was changing, and he was very impressed with ACW President Murray Finley and Secretary-Treasurer Jack Sheinkman during merger discussions. They are “quite progressive in their thinking.” While other unions, on the surface, may have appeared more likely merger choices, Watson was more impressed with the positions taken by the ACW leaders than with the others. In retrospect, he feels there might have been serious problems with merger with the other unions considered [Rubber and Oil, Atomic, and Chemical]. Canadians did not so much feel an industrial affinity with these other unions, but rather felt the others were more militant and thus more like TWUA than ACW was.

The Reasons for Merger
Scope and Content Note: The overriding factor was to get a larger membership. ACW brought more members to the merged organization, but TWUA brought a higher dues structure and a good staff. Finances are very important in today's unionism. Watson feels both unions benefited by the merger and most of his early fears have all dissipated. A union of a certain size is needed to operate efficiently in Canada. TWUA, even at its peak of 18,000 members, was not nearly big enough to provide the needed facilities. To provide the needed research and other facilities, a union in Canada needs 80,000-100,000 members. Watson feels merger with even more unions is needed in order to bring the membership up to this level. One objection to the merger agreement, which Watson retains, is his dislike for the large number of members on the Executive Board; this size of Board was motivated by political thinking.

The Possibility of the Celanese Plants Returning to ACTWU
Scope and Content Note: The membership in these plants are not satisfied with their new affiliation, and ACTWU can get them back if the Union builds a strong enough base in Quebec.

More on the Need for a Larger Membership in Canada
Scope and Content Note: There has been talk of merger with the Ladies' Garment Workers, but that union's reputation is not very good in Canada either. The only way to get to the 70,000-100,000 membership level required for an efficient Canadian operation is to engage in another merger. The only other option would be a dues increase; and that would not sit well with the membership.

TWUA Structure Committee, 1970-1972
Scope and Content Note: Composed of Watson, Joe Hueter, and Bill DuChessi. Although he is not sure why it came about, he feels it was a good idea. Probably it was caused by the feeling amongst a good part of the membership that regional directors should be elected regionally and that access to the Executive Council should be opened up. The committee held meetings all over the country which had fairly good attendance.

Introduction

More on the Structure Committee
Scope and Content Note: Watson was satisfied with attendance at the meetings the committee held. The one issue which received universal support was making people ineligible to run for the Executive Council once they reached the age of 65. This was designed solely as a means of bringing new blood onto the Council.

The Issue of Electing International Representatives
Scope and Content Note: The Executive Council did not accept the proposal to elect joint board managers and regional directors. Joint board managers who were appointed by the President were subject to approval by the joint board delegate assembly. [Watson thought this provision was in the TWUA constitution, but it is not. This practice must have been custom, but it did not have constitutional backing.] This has caused some problems with the Federation of Textile Representatives; the seniority and job selection clauses in their contracts sometimes ran counter to the wishes of the joint board members. The structure committee decided that the joint board's power to disapprove the President's selection of manager was sufficient democracy.

Executive Council Imbalance
Scope and Content Note: Watson agrees that the Council had become imbalanced, particularly with an over-representation of the New England area. However, the geographic imbalance was improving by the time the structure committee held its meetings and the imbalance of having too many vice presidents on the International payroll was also improving. The structure committee, in its information-gathering meetings, always pointed out that there was at that time a fairly equal representation on the Council of regional directors, local presidents, and joint board managers who were paid locally and who were paid by the International.

Election of Regional Directors
Scope and Content Note: The most common request of the membership that did not make it through the Executive Council was for the election of regional representatives who would serve on the Executive Council. This system was fairly common in other CIO unions, but the TWUA never implemented it because it was never sure where regional boundary lines should be drawn and also because of the system of industrial divisions. The practice of guaranteeing Council representation to industrial divisions seemed to have come about through verbal promises to these divisions at the time of TWUA's founding. Watson felt the industrial division representation on the Council should have been abolished, and a strictly regional representation should have been implemented. Also, since he had sponsored the constitutional amendment providing for election of the Canadian director, he would have supported election of all regional directors. This, however, would have meant taking more power from the President than he was prepared to relinquish. On the other hand, Watson opposed the suggestion that half the Council be elected regionally, and the other half elected at large from amongst division directors and other International staff. He opposed this because that would limit Canada's representation, since there were no division directors in Canada, and the industrial divisions did not represent Canadians.

Permission to Vote for Only 15 Vice Presidents
Scope and Content Note: Because the demand for this was so great, Watson went along with it; but he never agreed with it. He felt that delegates should be forced to vote for as many people as there were vacancies and that “clumping” (bullet voting) was undemocratic.

Dues Structure
Scope and Content Note: Watson also served on the committee to investigate the Union's dues structure. He favored a system whereby members, with set minimums and maximums, paid two hours pay per month in dues. The committee had once recommended this, and it was rejected by the Council, largely because of New England opposition. The committee would have recommended it again to the 1976 convention, but such a suggestion would only have served to impede the merger. Watson feels the two hour dues system will eventually have to come about. The alternative is to make frequent requests for dues increases and this does not sit well with the membership.

More on Regional Election of Vice Presidents
Scope and Content Note: The structure committee did recommend this to the Council, and the Council rejected it. This recommendation came in the form of a compromise since the three members of the committee did not agree on the principle.

Ineligibility to Run for the Council Once Reaching Age 65
Scope and Content Note: Hueter and Watson fought hard to get this suggestion of the structure committee approved by the Council. With the exception of Jack Rubenstein, it was fairly well accepted. The purpose of this provision was to get new blood on the Council; the anticipation was that people would now be more willing to wait for a vice president to retire and less eager to attempt to knock someone off the Council. It is a prevalent mood in the Union that becoming a vice president is “quite a plum.”

1972 Convention Refusal to Make Pollock President Emeritus
Scope and Content Note: The position carried a salary with it, and the rank and file thought Pollock's pension was sufficient. The Executive Council felt it was time for Pollock to retire, and it probably agreed to his President Emeritus proposal without sufficient thought. Many vice presidents were surprised at his retirement announcement; “quite a few of us felt that he made the right decision.”

Successors to John Chupka and Pollock
Scope and Content Note: Harold Daoust was a likely candidate to succeed Chupka, and he wanted the position. However, he had a drinking problem which had made him a different man than he had been in earlier years. In earlier years he would have been a good person for the position. His drinking habits at the Canadian Conferences personally antagonized Watson, and Watson did not support him for Chupka's office. The only reason Daoust got any support to succeed Chupka was on the basis of loyalty due to past favors; and the vice presidents who found themselves forced to vote for him in these circumstances were embarrassed by it. Pollock himself realized Daoust was no longer the best man for the job and supported Sol Stetin instead.

TWUA'S Internal Fights Thinned Its Leadership Ranks
Scope and Content Note: Although Bill DuChessi appeared to have had narrower experience than previous top officers, the choice of possible top leaders had been thinned by the two internal fights. DuChessi also had a good deal of support from the rank and file. More potential leadership was lost in the 1950-52 fight than in the 1962-64 fight. Some of those who left the Union after the 1964 fight “weren't all that top-notch; there (were) a few who were; some of them were getting older, too.” Also as a result of the 1952 fight, some people were put on the Council “who didn't have the ability.” There are still some people on the Council who are not “necessarily top-notch, top-caliber people.”

Stetin's Attempts to Revive the Spirit of the TWUA after Becoming President
Scope and Content Note: Watson cannot judge whether these attempts were successful, but he expects the merger should help in this area.