Sweatshop Strife : : Class, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Jewish Labour Movement of Toronto, 1900-1939 / / Ruth Frager.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Frager, Ruth,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1992
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (330 p.)

In the first half of the twentieth century, many of Toronto's immigrant Jews eked out a living in the needle-trade sweatshops of Spadina Avenue. In response to their expliotation on the shop floor, immigrant Jewish garment workers built one of the most advanced sections of the Canadian and American labour movements. Much more than a collective bargaining agency, Toronto's Jewish labour movement had a distinctly socialist orientation and grew out of a vibrant Jewish working-class culture.Ruth Frager examines the development of this unique movement, its sources of strength, and its limitations, focusing particularly on the complex interplay of class, ethnic, and gender interests and identities in the history of the movement. She examines the relationships between Jewish workers and Jewish manufacturers as well as relations between Jewish and non-Jewish workers and male and female workers in the city's clothing industry.In its prime, Toronto's Jewish labour movement struggled not only to improve hard sweatshop condistions but also to bring about a fundamental socialist transformation. It was an uphill battle. Drastic economic downturns, hard employer offensives, and state repressions all worked against unionists' workplace demands. Ethnic, gender, and ideological divisions weakened the movement and were manipulated by employers and their allies.Drawing on her knowledge of Yiddish, Frager has been able to gain access to original records that shed new light on an important chapter in Canadian ethnic, labour, and women's history.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations Used in the Text -- A Note on the Use of Yiddish -- Introduction -- 1. A Mound of Ashes in the Golden Land. The Setting -- 2. Pulling in One Direction. The Development of Jewish Working-Class Activism -- 3. Uncle Moses and the Slaves. Relations between Jewish Manufacturers and Jewish Workers -- 4. 'Mixing with People on Spadina'. The Tense Relations between Non-Jewish Workers and Jewish Workers -- 5. 'Better Material to Exploit'. The Barriers to Women's Participation in the Labour Movement -- 6. 'Just as a Worker'. The Dearth of Female-Oriented Strategies -- 7. Doing Things That Men Do. Women Activists in the Needle Trades -- 8 Pulling Apart. Divisions over Political Ideology -- Conclusion -- Appendix -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index -- Picture Credits