Exploring Postwar Consumption: The Campaign to Unionize Eaton's in Toronto, 1948-1952

Abstract

Exploring an unsuccessful campaign by the Canadian Congress of Labour to unionize 12,000 Eaton's employees in Toronto between 1948 and 1952, this article investigates Canadian unionism's relationship with consumer culture. During the 'Eaton Drive,' organizers appealed to employees' consumer interests to convince them to unionize. They also made standard-of-living arguments central to wage demands and imbued discussions of consumption with assumptions about masculinity and femininity. Analyzing these developments, this article deepens historians' understandings of progressivist debates about consumption, unionism's role in increasing living standards, and gendered ideas about labour, consumption, and citizenship. A la lumiere de l'etude d'une campagne infructueuse menee par le Congres canadien du travail (CCT) visant a syndiquer 12 000 employes de Eaton de la region de Toronto entre 1948 et 1952, cet article aborde la relation entre le syndicalisme et la culture de la consommation au Canada. Pendant ce que l'on a surnomme le « Eaton Drive », les organisateurs ont fait appel aux interets de consommation des employes pour les convaincre de se syndicaliser. Ils ont egalement presente la question du niveau de vie comme l'un des arguments centraux de leurs demandes salariales et ont mene des discussions sur la consommation qui etaient marquees par des suppositions relatives a la masculinite et a la feminite. En se penchant sur ces developpements, cet article permet aux historiens d'approfondir leur comprehension des debats progressistes relatifs a la consommation, du role du syndicalisme dans l'accroissement du niveau de vie ainsi que des idees liees aux sexes en matiere de travail, de consommation et de citoyennete.

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