Workers Unity League

the Workers Unity League (WUL) is a national trade union federation that was formed in 1929 on the initiative of the COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA in line with the decision of the Communist International (Comintern) in 1928 that communists break with their previous policy of working inside existing labour parties and labour unions to push for more militant stances. The new policy stressed the need for revolutionary organizations independent of the existing "class collaborationist" labour leadership. The WUL was the major labour organization in Canada during the early Depression period. It attempted to organize semiskilled and unskilled as opposed to crafts workers. Particularly active among miners and lumber workers, it also enjoyed support among industrial workers in southern Ontario and among unemployed organizations. It was disbanded in 1935 when the international communist line shifted back to calls for a united labour front, this time in the face of the international fascist threat. Though its membership never exceeded 40 000, the WUL accounted for most strikes in the early 1930s and its organizers went on to provide many key organizers for the CIO-CCL unions.

Author ALVIN FINKEL