New project will tell story of Windsor's rich history in the labour movement
CBC
Retired labour leader Gary Parent is almost as old as the Rand Formula itself.
He was born in 1946, a year after the historic Ford strike that led to the creation of the formula, which ensured that employees could not opt out of paying union dues and still reap the benefits of collective bargaining.
Now, he and others who have contributed to Windsor's labour history will take part in a project aimed at chronicling and preserving it.
"Well, activism really in our community is beyond the four walls of a workplace and it means that people go out of their way to do a tremendous lot of work and trying to attain a better community for everybody, not just labour people but for everybody," said Parent, at an activism awards dinner held in his honour Thursday night.
One of the recipients of the awards, Ken Acton, received the award in part for heading the Windsor and District Labour Council Labour History Project Steering Committee.
Acton said the committee is collecting historic artifacts and memorabilia as well as interviews with leaders in the labour movement such as Gary Parent to preserve the labour history.
"This is to ensure that the youth and the younger generations coming up understand what was fought for, what was gained and how communities overall really rely on people to come forward and give back," said Acton.
Former CBC reporter and union representative Percy Hatfield will be conducting video interviews with Parent and others at the Capitol Theatre. He says it's important to hear the history from people who made it.
"We had some of the first union movements, first locals in Canada, here in Windsor," said Hatfield. "We'll be hearing stories of why we got a five day work week. A 40-hour work week, the number of national holidays through labour."
Acton adds that labour has also contributed to important social programs such as our health-care system and community housing.
He said the artifacts, such as buttons, banners, pictures and signs will be collected and put on display at the Windsor Public Library and the Chimczuk Museum. He said they are still working out details on how the videos will be presented.
He said they are putting out a request to the public to contribute artifacts. He said they hope to have the project complete sometime this year.
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