Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Manitoba office

Indigenous People,
Wage Labour and
Trade Unions:
The Historical Experience
in Canada
By Lynne Fernandez and Jim Silver
Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Trade Acknowledgements
Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada
We wish to acknowledge the generous financial
isbn 978-1-77125-338-3 support of the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada through the Manitoba
March 2017 Research Alliance grant: Partnering for Change
– Community-based solutions for Aboriginal and
inner-city poverty.

About the Authors

Lynne Fernandez holds the Errol Black Chair in
Labour Issues at the Canadian Centre for Policy
Unit 205 – 765 Main St., Winnipeg, MB R2W 3N5 Alternatives, MB where she has worked for 10 years.
tel 204-927-3200 fa x 204-927-3201 She holds an MA in Economics from the University
em ail ccpamb@policyalternatives.ca of Manitoba.
Jim Silver is Professor in and Chair of the
Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies at the
University of Winnipeg, and a long-time member of
the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Steering
Committee.
Indigenous People, Wage Labour
and Trade Unions: The Historical
Experience in Canada

Have Indigenous people in Canada been active omies. In some parts of the country Indigenous
as wage labourers and union members? If so, wage workers have been particularly important,
what have been the circumstances? When and indeed essential, to the economic development of
where and for what reasons have Indigenous Canada. However, these Indigenous wage work-
people worked for wages and been union mem- ers were, in a great many cases, pushed out of the
bers and how have they fared in these roles? In paid labour force when non-Indigenous workers
this short paper we examine a wide range of re- arrived, and have in many cases had similarly
cent studies that have looked at various aspects negative experiences with unions.
of these questions. Nevertheless, the fact that so many Indige-
In particular, we examine the role that un- nous people have been active as wage labourers
ions have played with Indigenous wage workers, and union members over the past 150 years, and
and with Indigenous people who have sought that in some parts of the country have played a
to work for wages, and we consider some recent particularly important role as wage labourers in
initiatives that unions have taken to meet the the country’s economic development, is likely to
needs of Indigenous workers. Such efforts are undermine at least some aspects of the all-too-
especially significant in an era when the num- common stereotypical views of Indigenous people
bers of Indigenous workers entering the labour held by many Canadians. And the fact that the
market are growing rapidly, and when the labour Indigenous population is growing rapidly, and
force as a whole is becoming increasingly diverse. that Indigenous people are likely to comprise an
It may come as a surprise to many to learn ever-growing share of the work force, especially
that for well over a century Indigenous people in a province like Manitoba — where Indigenous
in Canada, and before that in what was to be- people comprise 16.7 percent of the population
come Canada, have participated in wage labour, as of 2011, and are projected to grow to be be-
and in a good many cases have been members of tween 17.6 and 21.3 percent of the population
unions. Indigenous people have typically worked by 2036 (Bond and Spence 2016: 26–27) — may
for wages on a seasonal basis, while maintaining make it especially significant to consider the
their involvement in traditional land-based econ- steps that unions are taking and could take to

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 1
 secure the support and engagement of their In- ticipation in wage labour, Indigenous people have
digenous members. done so to a much greater extent than is generally
recognized. In the late 19th and early 20th cen-
turies Indigenous wage labourers were, in some
Colonialism and Racism as the Context parts of Canada, essential to the emergence of
Any consideration of Indigenous people, wage this country’s capitalist industrialization.
labour and trade unions has to take place in the Nevertheless, as non-Indigenous settlers in-
context of the historical experience of coloni- creasingly populated all parts of the country,
alism, and the racism that was a part of that Indigenous workers were, in a great many cas-
process and that persists to this day. Colonial- es, squeezed out of the paid labour force by em-
ism involved the dispossession of Indigenous ployers, non-Indigenous settlers and, in some
peoples’ land and resources, the erosion and in cases, unions.
many cases elimination of their economic and
political systems, the constant attacks against
and in some cases the outlawing of their cultural Indigenous Peoples’ Experience as Wage
and spiritual practices, and the incarceration of Workers
many tens of thousands of Indigenous children Indigenous people were especially active as
in residential schools where they were taught wage workers in British Columbia in the late
that Indigenous people and their cultures and nineteenth century. They worked in canner-
languages were inferior to those of Europeans ies and sawmills, in mining and agriculture,
(TRC Report 2015). To justify these terribly dam- on the docks and sealing boats and as domes-
aging colonial practices, settlers and the settler tic servants and cooks in urban centres. For a
state falsely constructed Indigenous peoples as part of that period they comprised the majority
“primitive” and even “savages.” The false sense of of wage workers in the province (Knight 1978;
European superiority upon which these actions 1996), and have been described as “essential to
and beliefs were based was the stated justifica- the capitalist development of British Columbia”
tion for what has been described by the Truth (Lutz 1992: 70; see also Parnaby 2006: 68). They
and Reconciliation Commission as “cultural often migrated considerable distances to work
genocide” (TRC Report 2015: 1). for wages: “by the mid-1870s BC Indians were
Forced to adapt to a new socio-economic migrating to work in sawmills, canneries, hop-
environment in which they were systematically yards, docks and all manner of jobs from Alaska
marginalized and demeaned and in which they to the American Northwest, and in some cases
had largely been dispossessed of the land and re- as far as San Francisco” (Knight 1996: 14). John
sources which had been the basis of their survival, Lutz (2008: 167) reports, to take one particular
many Indigenous people — men, women and even example, that “from 1853 through to the 1880s,
children — turned to wage labour. In some cases two thousand to four thousand Aboriginal People
they did so because their dispossession left them canoed up to eight hundred miles to spend part
with no alternatives. In other cases Indigenous of the year in Victoria,” where they comprised a
people chose to engage in wage labour, doing so significant part of the paid labour force. Entire
in ways that suited their circumstances and their villages would sometimes be virtually deserted
determination to survive as Indigenous peoples. in the late nineteenth century as working age
In still other cases, as will be shown, Indigenous Indigenous men and women and even children
people were forced by the state to engage in wage migrated to work for wages (Muszynski 1988: 10;
labour. Whatever were the reasons for their par- Lutz 2008: 189).

2 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
 Indigenous people were often active in unions agriculture, forestry, fish processing and manu-
and in strike actions. Rolf Knight (1996: 17) de- facturing in both Canada and the USA. As was
scribes Indigenous fishermen supporting strikes the case in BC, they often travelled considera-
on the Fraser River in 1893, and addressing ral- ble distances to work for wages — to Maine for
lies “in support of the striking fishermen.” Indig- blueberry and potato harvesting in the 1920s and
enous longshoremen played a key role in 1906 in 1930s, and as far as western Canada, especially
the formation of a local of the Industrial Work- from 1924 to 1930, to work in the Fall harvest,
ers of the World (Knight 1996: 17). In some cases for which “whole excursion trains were organ-
Indigenous workers took strike action even when ized, with tickets provided in advance by western
they were not part of a union. Lutz (2008: 200) employers and the costs subsequently deducted
writes that “there are several reports of the [In- from wages” (Wien 1986: 22). Mi’kmaq men and
digenous] sealers striking for higher pay,” while women also worked in resource-based industries
Paige Raibmon (2006: 23), referring to Indig- in Nova Scotia — food and fish processing plants
enous women who travelled hundreds of miles and lumber processing plants and sawmills, for
to pick hops around Puget Sound, reported that example — and travelled to the northeast USA
although they were not represented by a union, to work in labour intensive industries such as
these workers “were known to strike for wages.” textiles and shoe manufacturing. For the most
Because they worked seasonally in order to part this was seasonal work, and the Mi’kmaq
keep one foot in the subsistence economy, In- combined it with continued work in subsistence
digenous workers were paid very low wages, and fishing and hunting, as was the case on Cana-
even more so in the case of Indigenous women da’s west coast.
and children who worked for wages. Indeed, In- In Quebec, Kahnawake Mohawk men have
digenous women tended to be located at the bot- worked for wages for more than 300 years: as vo-
tom of a labour hierarchy that was both racial- yageurs in the early fur trade, rafting timber on
ized and gendered (Patrias 2007: 41; Raibmon the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers and pilot-
2006: 35). In technical terms, capitalists were ing river boats on the St. Lawrence in the nine-
able to get away with paying a wage that was less teenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century
than sufficient to fully cover Indigenous workers’ they began the work for which they have become
subsistence because at least a part of that sub- famous — hundreds of Kahnawake men worked
sistence was being earned in the pre-capitalist on the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway’s
forms of production that existed alongside and Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River in
in the interstices of capitalist production (Lutz Montreal, where they developed the specialized
2008: 219). In the coastal canneries of BC thou- skills of high iron/steel work. So skilled were they
sands of Indigenous wage workers were employed that for the rest of the nineteenth century they
(Lutz 2008: 185), many of them women, but most worked at railway bridge building across Canada,
were gradually replaced by Chinese workers, who specializing in high construction work. Early in
could be paid equally low wages but who were the twentieth century they began doing the same
more easily controlled by owners and managers work in the USA, connecting the steel frames
because, unlike Indigenous workers, they did not of urban skyscrapers. They too travelled long
have access to non-capitalist means of subsist- distances — to Brooklyn, Detroit, Buffalo, Syra-
ence (Muszynski 1988: 112–3). cuse, Boston and Chicago — to work for wages.
On the other side of the country, Mi’kmaq By the second half of the twentieth century, 40
men and women from Nova Scotia worked for percent or more of the men in Kahnawake were
wages at the turn of the twentieth century in high steel workers (Blanchard 1983: 52; Katzer

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 3
 1988: 46). They were highly skilled, and in most es. They were so good at this work that, as the
cases were members of the National Structural Indian Agent put it, “if required of them, they
Steel Workers Union or the International As- could run the mill themselves, without the aid
sociation of Bridge, Structural, and Ornamen- of white men” (Tough 1996: 193). The same was
tal Iron Workers (Katzer 1988; Blanchard 1983). the case at Fort Alexander where “Indians were
engaged in the most intricate portions of the
work, feeding the saws, working with machines
Indigenous Wage Workers in Manitoba with quickness and precision” (Tough 1996: 193).
In Manitoba, Indigenous people worked for wages Indigenous people in Manitoba’s northern and
in the fur trade in the nineteenth century (Tough Interlake regions were anxious to work for wag-
1996). Those Cree living close to York Factory, es, and skilled at doing so.
for example, worked as freighters and labourers Indigenous people also worked seasonally for
(Thistle 1986: 36), as did the Metis for many years wages on farms in southern Manitoba. At Sandy
(Bourgeault 1983). Indigenous women played an Bay in 1901, for example, “the greater part of the
essential role in the fur trade — working to pro- adult male portion of the band came down to
vide food, to make clothing, to make and pad- work in the Manitoba grain fields during har-
dle canoes, and working as “guides, interpreters vesting and threshing” (Tough 1996: 202). Indig-
and diplomats in trade” (McCallum 2014: 22). enous people also worked for wages in railway
Late in the nineteenth century Indigenous construction, in mines and at Fort Alexander on
and Metis people worked on Lakes Winnipeg power line construction (Tough 1996: 203). As
and Manitoba in the commercial fishing industry. Frank Tough (1996: 197–8) puts it:
“In 1887, the two largest companies … employed
During this economic boom, local labour, not
80 white men, 40 half-breeds and 185 Indians,”
non-resident whites, was the main source for
although the relationship appears to have been
workers for frontier resource capitalists. The
exploitative, as evidenced by Indigenous fisher-
ease with which Native peoples moved back
men opposing the establishment of commercial
and forth between subsistence and available
fishing on the grounds that “these companies
seasonal wage labour in the new staple
with their steamers and enormous nets enclosing
industries worked to the advantage of both
fish of all kinds” were threatening the Indigenous
Natives and capitalists.
subsistence fishing economy (Tough 1996: 178,
182). Wage labour in what was the American-fi- Jim Mochoruk (2004: 54) makes a similar ar-
nanced and export-oriented commercial fishing gument:
industry existed alongside the Indigenous sub-
Sawmills and bush camps employed hundreds
sistence fishing economy, and the wage labour
of Cree and Ojibwa men in the Lake of the
was seasonal, as was the case elsewhere.
Woods and Lake Winnipeg regions. Railroad
As Winnipeg grew late in the 19th and early
construction work and the associated tie cutting
in the 20th centuries, when it was the “Chica-
were also common Aboriginal occupations
go of the North,” demand for lumber for hous-
during the early 1880s. Miners employed a
ing grew. Many Indigenous people worked for
fair number of Aboriginal people as guides,
wages in sawmills. The Indian Agent at Fisher
transportation workers, timber cutters, and
River wrote of the success of the band “due to
general labourers during the Lake of the Woods
their having three lumbering mills in the vicin-
gold rush of the 1880s.
ity of their reserve” where they worked for wag-

4 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
Yet this wage work was unstable: key role in this form of wage labour. Mary Jane
McCallum (2014: 225) observes that “The state
No sooner would a band become reliant on a
played a central role in training Native women to
sawmill for winter employment than market
work as domestic servants by making domestic
conditions would force the mill out of business,
training central to girls’ curriculum in federal
or the merchantable timber would be cut over
Indian schooling. Schools became vital sourc-
and the mill owner would move the operation to
es of Indian labour for federal institutions and
another location, leaving the local people with
private individuals.” In Sandy Bay, Manitoba, for
no work. The other economic enterprises along
example, there is a long history of Indigenous
the resource frontier were equally unstable
women working as domestics, “cleaning houses,
(Mochoruk 2004: 55).
hotels and hospitals both ‘in town’ and ‘around
It made good economic sense, therefore, for In- the reserve,’” plus a wide range of other forms of
digenous people to continue to work in the pre- wage labour (McCallum 2014: 24–5). However, as
capitalist fishing and hunting economy, keeping was the case elsewhere in Canada, Dakota wage
one foot in each mode of production and thereby workers, including those women working as do-
offsetting the ups and downs of a frontier capi- mestics, eventually were largely squeezed out of
talist economy. the paid labour force. Elias (1988: 223) concludes
Dakota people engaged simultaneously both by observing that “For many years, the Dakota
in hunting, fishing, farming and ranching, and formed the backbone of a dependable urban and
in wage labour with lumber and transport com- rural labour force in their localities.” However,
panies and local farmers. Beginning late in the “the Dakota were virtually excluded from a rap-
19th century Dakota people worked as farm idly changing labour force,” the result in part of
hands and on railway construction. In eastern the racism that arose as non-Indigenous settlers
Saskatchewan in 1888–89, “the demand for Da- competed for jobs.
kota labour was insatiable, and top wages were
asked and paid” (Elias 1988:155). In September,
1890, 40 of 45 families at one Dakota reserve were Pushed Out of the Paid Labour Force
working for wages on settlers’ farms, after hav- There is a long history of Indigenous people want-
ing spent July and August haying on their own ing to work for wages, but in all too many cases
lands (Elias 1988: 156). Dakota people living near being forced out by non-Indigenous settlers. This
Prince Albert “had become indispensable to the was the case across Canada. In BC, where they
local economy” (Elias 1988: 205). had made such an indispensable contribution to
At the beginning of the 20th century many the emergent 19th century capitalist economy,
Dakota women worked in Portage la Prairie, most Indigenous wage workers were eventually
Manitoba, where “they were earning good in- replaced by European settlers. Employers pre-
comes as domestics” (Elias 1988: 192), and Da- ferred Europeans because, like Chinese wage
kota people generally played an important role labourers, they did not have the same access to
in the town’s economy. There is a long history non-capitalist means of subsistence and so were
of Indigenous women working as domestics, the more dependent upon their waged jobs and could
origins of which are, in many cases, in the resi- be more easily controlled, and even more because,
dential schools where Indigenous girls did do- as European settlement grew, racist construc-
mestic chores not only in the schools but also tions of Indigenous workers were used to justify
in the homes of school staff members (McCal- European employment. James Burrows (1986: 45)
lum 2014: 22). The federal government played a argues that Indigenous people were pushed out

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 5
 of the paid labour force “when the white popu- case across Canada, because Indigenous work-
lation in a given region of the province became ers maintained access to and skills in the pre-
sufficiently dense to end the demand for Indian capitalist hunting and fishing economy, and thus
labour. At that point prejudice against the Indi- were less dependent upon waged labour.
ans or, if one wishes to be generous, favouritism However, as non-Indigenous settlers increas-
toward white labourers, eliminated Indians from ingly moved into the north they not only pushed
the labour force.” Indigenous people out of waged work, but also,
In Atlantic Canada Mi’macq men and wom- because of industrial and other activities, they
en were squeezed out of their marginal positions eroded the capacity of the pre-capitalist, land-
in the capitalist economy during the economic based economy to support Indigenous peoples.
depressions of the early 1920s and the 1930s. “As The result was that in many northern Manitoba
non-Indian Nova Scotians filled the jobs at the communities, growing numbers of Indigenous
core of the economy — in coal, steel, pulp and people were forced to rely upon social assistance
paper, or highway construction — and developed for their survival (Elias 1975: 114). In at least one
job shelters to protect their positions, the Mic- known case this growing reliance upon social
mac were left on the outside looking in” (Wien assistance as their land-based economies were
1986: 97). Unions played a role in this strategy eroded was used as the basis upon which Indig-
of Indigenous exclusion. enous people were, in effect, forced into waged
The pattern was similar in Manitoba. Indig- labour. In the southern Alberta sugar beet fields,
enous workers found waged work clearing bush labour shortages had long necessitated extraor-
leading to the establishment of Lac du Bonnet, dinary labour recruitment efforts. During the
“but as soon as the railway to Lac du Bonnet Second World War, for example, German pris-
made possible the importation of white work- oners of war, Japanese-Canadian detainees and
ers, Aboriginals were increasingly pushed to the conscientious objectors were used as forced la-
back of the hiring line and were excluded from bour. When this source dried up in the post-war
any employment save as casual workers” (Mo- period the Canadian, Saskatchewan and Alberta
choruk 2004: 191). In 1913–14 business leaders governments supported the sugar beet indus-
in The Pas in northern Manitoba promoted set- try’s labour recruitment efforts by, among other
tlement and investment in the town by pointing things, pushing northern Indigenous people into
out that The Pas “was decidedly not an ‘Indian’ waged labour in the sugar beet fields in southern
town,” making clear what Mochoruk (2004: 204) Alberta by deliberately cutting off their social
calls “the de facto apartheid between Aboriginals assistance payments (Laliberte and Satzewich
and whites.” The result was minimal employ- 1990). In 1962, 2100 Indigenous seasonal workers
ment opportunities for Indigenous people who were employed; in 1990 the number was 2500.
wanted to continue to work for wages. They were “recruited for work in the fields un-
As more settlers arrived, fewer Indigenous der conditions of compulsion or forced labour”
peoples were employed for wages. Railway lines (Laliberte and Satzewich 1990: 80).
extending into northern Manitoba meant that If there was work at all for Indigenous peo-
“white labourers who congregated in Winnipeg ple in Manitoba’s north, it was in jobs that had
could be hired through employment agencies the lowest pay and lowest prestige, as in the case
and shipped directly to the work site” (Mocho- of Churchill, Manitoba in the mid-1970s where:
ruk 2004: 162). Non-Indigenous workers were
The jobs that are held by the Natives are, by
preferred over Indigenous workers primarily for
and large, those that rate lowest on a socio-
reasons related to racism, but also, as was the

6 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
 economic scale. The jobs that Natives are from waged work. In the 1930s a Manitoba pulp
most likely to get, if and when they can get mill east of Lake Winnipeg employed 300 Indig-
work, are those that pay the poorest, have the enous people out of a total workforce of 700. In-
least responsibility attached to them, and are digenous subcontractors employed Indigenous
considered by dominant white values to be the workers, but “the subcontracting system came to
least desirable. Natives get a crack at those jobs an end in the late 1950s and early 1960s, primarily
whites don’t want (Elias 1975: 24). as a result of labour union activities.” The union
insisted that the mill purchase wood only from
For the most part, the same was the case with
camps with modern conveniences. The capital
various federal government programs designed
cost of providing “modern conveniences” was
to move Indigenous women into the paid labour
too high for Indigenous subcontractors. “As a
force. When they worked for wages, the jobs
result, the Indian subcontractors had to cease
they were able to secure were those at the bot-
their operations” (Lithman 1984: 78).
tom of the waged hierarchy. This was the case
As George Lithman (1984: 79–81) observed,
for Indigenous women employed as domestics
those Indigenous workers inside the mill were
and hairdressers. It was similarly the case for
“practically all located in the dirtiest and lowest
Indigenous women employed as waged workers
paid positions,” and racism was common. By the
in health care, where they worked as “guides,
1970s Jeremy Hull (1991: 89) argues that “the un-
helpers, companions and translators for white
ion was an organization protecting the interests
women who worked in the North as missionar-
of the white workers, and excluding the Indian
ies and nurses,” and in northern hospitals, where
workers.” Similar outcomes occurred elsewhere
they typically worked as nurses’ or ward aides or
because of deliberate union actions, often of a
interpreters, or as cooks or laundry workers or
systemic character. Andy Parnaby (2006: 77), for
housekeepers. In all of these cases a “racialized
example, describes how the “implementation of
labour hierarchy” prevailed (McCallum 2014:
stringent seniority and leave of absence rules for
16, 19, 22 & 196).
its [the union’s] members in 1953” pushed Indig-
Job discrimination was the norm; Indigenous
enous workers off the BC docks. This occurred
workers were the victims.
despite the fact that Indigenous longshoremen
But what this historical enquiry makes clear
had previously monopolized the loading and un-
is that, contrary to popular stereotypes, Indig-
loading of logs and lumber on the BC docks and
enous people have long worked for wages, and
were described as “the greatest men that ever
as wage workers have played an important role
worked the lumber” (Parnaby 2006: 64).
in the development of Canada’s economy. In a
Unions have, in general, been slow to reach
great many cases Indigenous peoples have want-
out to workers who are not white, male or heter-
ed to work for wages, but have been prevented
osexual. Gerald Hunt and David Rayside (2000:
from doing so by employers and non-Indigenous
402–3) found that “through much of their history
workers who have taken actions deliberately de-
most unions have been at the very least skeptical
signed to push Indigenous workers out of the
of racial minority members and women, regard-
paid labour force.
ing them as threatening to higher wages, job se-
curity and union solidarity.” Julie White (1993)
and Ronnie Leah (1993) have documented cases
Indigenous People, Diversity and Unions
of blatant racism on the part of unions directed
Unions often played a role in the systemic and
at racialized minorities. Maureen Morrison (1991)
often deliberate exclusion of Indigenous people
described the intense struggles that female trade

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 7
 unionists in Manitoba waged against sexism in in too many cases still are — colonial institutions,
union ranks. Progress for women in unions has acting narrowly in the interests of non-Indige-
been “agonizingly slow” (Briskin and McDer- nous workers and not only failing to adequately
mott 1993). The same is the case for workers of represent the particular interests of Indigenous
colour (Hunt and Rayside 2000: 234–5). But the workers, but in some cases working actively to
changing demographics of the labour force have exclude them from paid employment.
forced unions to begin to respond differently. “A On the other hand, Indigenous leaders have
labour movement that was once largely white, on occasion acted in ways that look like simple
male, and believed to be largely heterosexual has union-busting, and have undertaken to preserve
had to begin adapting to a labour force with very the interests of more privileged Indigenous own-
different demographics, attitudes and forms of ers and elected officials. Yale Belanger (2012:
activism.” (Hunt & Rayside 2000: 403) 145) describes the opposition of the Federation
In Manitoba, a dominant demographic trend of Saskatchewan Indians (FSIN) to union or-
is the rapid growth and the younger than aver- ganizing at First Nations-owned casinos. “The
age age of the Indigenous population (Bond and FSIN argues that labour unions are not tradi-
Spence 2016: 29–30), and the resultant dramatic tionally ‘Native’ and that their ‘un-Indigenous’
growth in the proportion of labour market en- nature is and should remain foreign to First Na-
trants who are, and even more in future will be, tions culture.” The FSIN and other Indigenous
people of Indigenous descent (Lezubski 2014). organizations have, among other tactics, used
To date, however, Indigenous peoples’ relations the courts to try to make the case that federal
with unions and non-Indigenous union mem- and provincial labour laws do not apply on re-
bers have been mixed, but most often negative. serves. They have done so in an effort to prevent
For example, Julie Guard’s analysis of women unionization of Indigenous businesses and gov-
on strike at Lanark Manufacturing in southern erning bodies, even when it is Indigenous work-
Ontario found that while white women “claimed ers themselves who have actively been seeking
for themselves an identity as real workers,” they union representation.
simultaneously “marked out the boundaries of In part, this is because of legitimate con-
that identity by excluding Native women.” She cerns about external control by non-Indigenous
hypothesized that “non-Natives did not see Na- organizations that might have little awareness
tive women as authentic workers, regardless of of or sympathy with Indigenous ways of being.
whether or not they were actually engaged in But partly it appears that the emergent Indig-
waged work” (Guard 2004: 118–9). Suzanne Mills enous elite want to maintain full access to and
(2007) found similarly that Indigenous women control over allocations of streams of revenue.
working at a mill in northern Canada felt a close Brock Pitawanakwat (2006: 32–33) has argued
bond among themselves, but felt excluded by the that FSIN leaders used a “false front of nation-
union and by non-Indigenous workers, includ- alism as a red herring to maintain their power
ing non-Indigenous women. over labour relations in Indigenous institutions.”
As Leslie Spillett — an Indigenous leader in The same has been the case in Indigenous-
Winnipeg and former trade union leader — con- owned casinos in Manitoba. “There is a tradition
firmed in a 2016 interview, in some cases Indig- of similar hostility towards unions among some
enous people see unions as just another coloni- First Nations leaders in Manitoba, with claims
al institution, engaged in practices at odds with that they are not Indian organizations and that
and likely to undermine Indigenous cultures. It they challenge First Nations’ sovereignty” (Dubois
is true that unions have historically been — and et al. 2002: 58). However, Alison DuBois and

8 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
her colleagues (2002: 58) argue, similar to Pita- 235), referring broadly to racialized workers, has
wanakwat, that “These are spurious arguments made the case in this way:
having more to do with First Nations leaders not
perhaps no institution represents as much
wishing to have the authority of chief and coun-
promise in empowering racialized workers
cil challenged.”
to overcome their oppression in the labour
Many barriers stand in the way of improved
market as does organized labour.… For Canada’s
relations between Indigenous people and un-
racialized group members to make significant
ions. Some are obvious — for example, the long
progress in the labour market, they need the
history of union efforts to exclude Indigenous
union advantage — the power of collective
workers from employment in order to preserve
bargaining.”
jobs for non-Indigenous workers (Lithman 1984:
78; Parnaby 2006: 77), and the racism so often If unions are to meet the legitimate needs of In-
directed by non-Indigenous union members at digenous workers and potential workers, they are
Indigenous workers. As Suzanne Mills and Tyler going to have to earn their trust by confronting
McCreary (2012: 128) describe it: “After a history the realities of racism that have long been di-
of exclusion from many unionized forms of em- rected by non-Indigenous people and institu-
ployment, it is unsurprising that many Aborigi- tions at Indigenous peoples. There are a variety
nal workers view unions as a ‘white man’s tool’ of steps that might be taken, and many that have
and look to their own governments to secure recently been taken, but it is likely that this will
their employment.” be a process that will take time and effort. Nev-
On the other hand, there are cases where un- ertheless, it is our contention that concerted ef-
ions have supported and fought for Indigenous forts to facilitate the active involvement of In-
workers. For example, in 1962, 80 Indigenous digenous workers in their unions will strengthen
workers from Norway House and Split Lake unions, and that stronger unions will accrue to
picketed the Inco mine in Thompson, Manitoba, the benefit of Indigenous and non-Indigenous
demanding the chance to work for wages. Inco workers alike.
resisted, but the union, the International Union
of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, supported
the Indigenous picketers who were demanding What Unions Have Done and are Doing
the right to work. In a telegram to the Winni- In recent years at least some unions have made
peg Free Press (Winnipeg Free Press September increased efforts to organize and represent In-
19 and 20, 1962) the union wrote: “Indians all digenous workers. There is an “increasing recog-
the way from Nelson House are parading at the nition within the labour movement of the need
International Nickel Company’s gates demand- to build relationships with Aboriginal peoples,
ing their right to work. Many of these people both within and outside of their memberships.”
were the first here, clearing the land where the Suzanne Mills and Louise Clarke (2009: 991)
company now stands. Now that the dirty work argue that:
is finished they feel they have been cast aside.
Unions and labour federations began to dedicate
They want the same rights and privileges as their
significant resources and staff to: organizing
white brothers.”
Aboriginal workplaces; dispelling myths about
Indigenous workers, like all workers, deserve
Aboriginal people among their members;
and need the legal protections, democratic op-
providing union training for Aboriginal
portunities and improved wages and benefits
workers; and altering union structures to
that unions offer. Grace-Edward Galabuzi (2006:

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 9
 increase the voice of Aboriginal members in decision-making bodies, and efforts in collective
union decisions. bargaining to prioritize equity issues. Gains have
been made in all of these areas, but it is only rel-
One thing unions have learned is that for many
atively recently that unions have begun to direct
Indigenous workers, “non-class identities are im-
their efforts to the particular needs and interests
portant” (Mills and Clarke 2009: 992). Indigenous
of Indigenous workers.
people often identify less as workers than as In-
Public sector unions have been among the lead-
digenous people, whose lived experiences have
ers in this work, in large part because Indigenous
been shaped, at least in part, by colonialism and
workers have, since the 1960s, had a propensity to
racism and by a relationship — sometimes recent,
work in the public sector — in health, education and
sometimes further in the past — with the land.
social services, for example. Significant problems
Over the past 30 years unions have worked to
confront Indigenous people in these workplaces.
organize and adequately represent workers who
In their study of Indigenous experiences in
are not part of the white, male and heterosexual
CUPE and the Public Service Alliance of Cana-
mainstream — women, workers of colour, gay and
da (PSAC), Mills and Clarke (2009: 996) found
lesbian workers, for example (Hunt and Rayside
that racism directed at Indigenous workers was
2000). “Campaigns have often mobilized around
a dominant theme. The authors found the same
workers’ shared concerns of racism or sexism in
in a study of Indigenous City of Winnipeg work-
the workplace, and made use of networks based
ers who are members of CUPE 500 (Fernandez
on shared language or religion” (Mills and Clarke
and Silver 2017). These workplace studies echo
2009: 992). As new categories of workers have
findings of high levels of racism directed at In-
moved in significant numbers into workplaces,
digenous students in Winnipeg high schools (Sil-
unions have worked — usually pushed by union
ver and Mallett 2002), suggesting the ubiquity
activists and social movements — to meet their
in Canada and, perhaps especially, in Manitoba,
specific needs and to secure their support and
of racism directed at Indigenous peoples.
active involvement. This necessitates changes in
Unions are responding by, among other things,
union structures, processes and activities.
developing Indigenous awareness courses. CUPE
Equity-seeking union members have them-
Saskatchewan, for example, has developed a
selves taken steps to advance their interests within
course called Unionism on Turtle Island, aimed
unions. Stephanie Ross and her colleagues (Ross
at increasing CUPE members’ awareness of the
et al. 2015: 175–6) have described various ap-
ongoing impact on Indigenous peoples of colo-
proaches used by non-Indigenous equity-seeking
nialism. It is not clear to what extent such ini-
union members. These include separate organiz-
tiatives have affected non-Indigenous workers:
ing — “the creation of separate structures or spaces
Mills and McCreary (2012: 122) have argued
that allow equity-seeking groups to express and
that awareness levels appear not to have reached
define their own issues and priorities, develop
rank and file levels in unions, and our findings
strategies and tactics for working on them, and
(Fernandez and Silver 2017) reflect this concern.
strengthen their own leadership capacities”; the
There are also some educational initiatives aimed
promotion of internal union education, both for
at developing Indigenous workers’ skills and ca-
union members to raise awareness of exclusion
pacities. CUPE and UNIFOR, for example, have
and inequality, and for equity-seeking groups to
Aboriginal Leadership development programs
build their capacities and leadership skills; and
(Mills and McCreary 2012: 121).
structural changes including the representation
CUPE Saskatchewan has been involved in
of members of equity-seeking groups in union
developing a representative workforce strategy

10 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
(RWS), introduced in 1992 by the NDP govern- CUPE include having a presence in the community
ment of Saskatchewan and aimed at increasing prior to organizing, using Aboriginal organizers
the numbers of Indigenous people in the paid and ensuring that organizers are knowledgeable
labour force. about cultural protocols” (Mills and McCreary
2012: 127). It can be added that unions will have
The program involves creating partnerships
to reach out to Indigenous peoples to support
between the government, employers and
them in their particular, non-union struggles. It
unions that commit the parties to: hiring
is our observation, based on our experience in
Aboriginal job coordinators who network
Winnipeg, that there is an Indigenous cultural
with the Aboriginal community; identifying
revival underway, and unions have to be a part
barriers to the hiring, retention and promotion
of this process if they are to win the trust of In-
of Aboriginal workers within human resource
digenous peoples. Unions will have to become
practices and collective agreements; and
active and knowledgeable allies in a wide range
promoting specialized training for Aboriginal
of Indigenous struggles, walking beside Indig-
people and Aboriginal awareness training for
enous peoples and organizations, not in front or
settlers (Mills and Clarke 2009: 997).
behind (Silver 2016: 197–8).
Work is also being done to make changes in col- While at least some unions are being inno-
lective agreements having to do with, for example, vative in reaching out to Indigenous workers,
elders in workplaces, accommodation for attend- and some gains are being made, there is a con-
ance at spiritual and cultural events, and efforts siderable distance to go. Historically, although
to ensure that Indigenous people are represented Indigenous people have often worked for wages
at all levels throughout a workforce and within and been active in unions, it has too often been
union ranks. What is required is that “unions the case that unions and union members have
make space within their collective identities and reflected the racist views of the dominant cul-
structures for Aboriginal workers” (Mills and ture, and that unions have worked to protect non-
Clarke 2009: 1000). Gains are being made in this Indigenous workers to the detriment of Indige-
respect. For example, “CUPE and PSAC have na- nous workers and those Indigenous people who
tional-level committees for Aboriginal members have wanted to work for wages. While this past
to articulate their issues, named the National damage is a reality that has to be acknowledged,
Aboriginal Circle and the National Aboriginal it is nevertheless the case that union principles
Peoples’ Network respectively,” while UNIFOR of collectivity and looking after each other are
includes Indigenous members in their Aborigi- largely consistent with traditional Indigenous
nal Workers and Workers of Colour Committee values of collectivity and sharing. It’s a matter
(Mills and McCreary 2012: 121). of figuring out how to build bridges between un-
ions and Indigenous peoples. Doing so is pos-
Strategies used to increase the representation of
sible, and in fact doing so is likely to contribute
Aboriginal peoples within CUPE and PSAC have
to a revitalization of the labour movement. As
mimicked those of other marginalized groups,
Mills and McCreary (2012: 130) argue:
such as the creation of separate organizing
committees and the creation of representative Building upon approaches to both connect to
seats on executives (Mills and Clarke 2009: 1000). Aboriginal people as workers and as Aboriginal
peoples, and to support Aboriginal communities
Necessary innovations are being made in or-
in their struggles, offers possibilities for a
ganizing strategies as well. For example, “Some
social unionism both revitalized and reframed
of the organizing innovations implemented by

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 11
 through reciprocal relationships to the cause of workers, and would contribute to the revitaliza-
Aboriginal self-determination. tion of unions. As Pradeep Kumar and Christo-
pher Schenk (2006: 40) have argued: “coalition
building is regarded as one of the most innova-
The Struggles of Women and other Equity- tive strategies for union revitalization.”
Seeking Union Members But beneficial though these innovative ap-
There are lessons to be learned by recalling the proaches adopted by women have been, these
fierce struggles waged by women to become fully gains were only achieved as the result of pro-
accepted and engaged in unions. All across Can- tracted and often intense struggles by female
ada it was union women — in almost all cases trade unionists. While it may seem to be a cli-
working in coalition with feminist organiza- ché to say so, it is nevertheless true that all the
tions outside the labour movement — who were gains and benefits enjoyed by unionized work-
the leaders in making gains for women. In sub- ers today are the result of struggles led by union
sequent years the struggles led by women have activists and committed to by union members,
provided a precedent and a template for other often in alliance with progressive forces outside
equity-seeking groups of union members, for ex- the union movement.
ample workers of colour, LGBTQ workers, workers Today, one such struggle involves Indigenous
with disabilities and, more recently, Indigenous workers. Indigenous people have long worked for
workers (Briskin 2006: 103). Union women typi- wages and been members of unions, but the rac-
cally carried out these struggles in coalition with ism that has been such a defining characteristic
feminists outside of but supportive of the union of the relations between Indigenous and non-In-
movement. As Linda Briskin (2009: 138) has de- digenous people in Canada, and the ongoing im-
scribed this coalition-based process: pact of colonialism and the cultural genocide (TRC
2015: 1) that has been at the heart of colonialism,
Beginning in the 1970s, around issues such
have been carried into workplaces and into union
as pay equity, affirmative action, sexual
structures and practices. Unions are beginning
harassment, violence against women, child
to respond to this challenge, and to the extent
care, and reproductive rights, union women
that they are successful in doing so, unions will
have organized alliances and coalitions across
be revitalized and strengthened, and Indigenous
unions and with social movements, contesting
and non-Indigenous workers alike will benefit. As
the isolationist tendencies within the union
Linda Briskin (2006: 110) has argued, in a way that
movement and legitimizing coalition building
has a particularly powerful resonance since the
with groups outside the union movement.
election in the USA of President Donald Trump:
In other words, union women allied with femi- “Experience in Canada has demonstrated that
nist women outside the labour movement, and taking account of difference can build a stronger
such coalition-building in pursuit of workplace union movement. In fact, solidarity is increasingly
gains is a model that would benefit Indigenous understood to mean unity in diversity.”

12 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
References Elias, Peter D. 1990. “Wage Labour, Aboriginal
Belanger, Yale D. 2012. “Indigenous Workers, Ca- Rights and the Cree of the Churchill River
sino Development and Union Organizing,” in Basin, Saskatchewan.” Native Studies Re-
John Peters (ed.). Boom, Bust and Crisis: La- view, 6, 2.
bour, Corporate Power and Politics in Canada. Elias, Peter D. 1988. The Dakota of the Canadian
Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing. Northwest: Lessons for Survival. Winnipeg:
Black, Errol and Jim Silver. 1991. Hard Bargains: University of Manitoba Press.
The Manitoba Labour Movement Confronts
Elias, Peter D. 1975. Metropolis and Hinterland
the 1990s. Winnipeg: Manitoba Labour Edu-
in Northern Manitoba. Winnipeg: The Mani-
cation Centre.
toba Museum of Man and Nature.
Blanchard, David. 1983. “High Steel! The
Fernandez, Lynne and Jim Silver. 2017. Indigenous
Kahnawake Mohawk and the High Construc-
Workers and Unions: The Case of Winnipeg’s
tion Trade,” Journal of Ethnic Studies, 11, 2.
CUPE 500. Winnipeg: Canadian Centre for
Bond, Sabrina and Stephen Spence. 2016. Max- Policy Alternatives-Manitoba.
imizing Manitoba’s Potential: Manitoba Re-
Foley, Janice. 2009. “Introduction,” in Janice Foley
search Centre. Ottawa: The Conference Board
and Patricia L. Baker (eds.). Unions, Equity,
of Canada.
and the Path to Renewal. Vancouver: Univer-
Bourgeault, Ron. 2006. “Aboriginal Labour in sity of British Columbia Press.
the North-West.” Prairie Forum, 31, 2, Fall.
Forrest, Anne. 2009. “Bargaining for Economic
Bourgeault, Ron. 1983. “The Indian, the Metis and
Equality: A Path to Union Renewal,” in Jan-
the Fur Trade: Class, Sexism and Racism in
ice Foley and Patricia L. Baker (eds.). Unions,
the Transition from ‘Communism’ to Capi-
Equity, and the Path to Renewal. Vancouver:
talism,” Studies in Political Economy, 12, Fall.
University of British Columbia Press.
Briskin, Linda and Patricia McDermott (eds.).
Galabuzi, Grace-Edward. 2006. Canada’s Eco-
1993. Women Challenging Unions: Feminism,
nomic Apartheid: The Social Exclusion of Ra-
Democracy and Militancy. Toronto: Univer-
cialized Groups in the New Century. Toronto:
sity of Toronto Press.
New Scholars Press.
Burrows, James K. 1986. “A Much Needed Class
High, Steven. 1996. “Native Wage Labour and
of Labour’: The Economy and Income of the
Independent Production during the ‘Era of
Southern Interior Plateau Indians, 1897–1910.”
Irrelevance’.” Labour/Le Travail. 37.
BC Studies, 71, Autumn.
Briskin, Linda. 2009. “Cross-Constituency Or- Hull, Jeremy. 2001. Aboriginal People and So-
ganizing: A Vehicle for Union Renewal,” in cial Classes in Manitoba. Winnipeg: Cana-
Janice Foley and Patricia Baker (eds.). Unions, dian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba.
Equity and the Path to Renewal. Vancouver: Hull, Jeremy. 1991. “Aboriginal People and the
University of British Columbia Press. Labour Movement,” in Errol Black and Jim
Briskin, Linda. 2006. “A Caucus of Caucuses: The Silver (eds.). Hard Bargains: The Manitoba
Next Stage in Union Equity Organizing,” in Labour Movement Confronts the 1990s. Win-
Just Labour, Vol. 8, Spring. nipeg: Manitoba Labour Education Centre.
DuBois, Alison, John Loxley and Wanda Wutte- Hunt, Gerald and David Rayside. 2000. “Labor
nee. 2002. “Gambling on Casinos,” The Jour- Union Response to Diversity in Canada and
nal of Aboriginal Economic Development, 2, 2. the United States.” Industrial Relations. 39, 3.

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 13
 Katzer, Bruce. 1988. “The Caughnawaga Mo- Mills, Suzanne. 2007. “Limitations to Inclusive
hawks: The Other Side of Ironwork,” Journal Unions from the Perspectives of White and
of Ethnic Studies, 15, 4. Aboriginal Women Forest Workers in the
Knight, Rolf. 1996. Indians at Work: An Informal Northern Prairies.” Just Labour: A Canadi-
History of Native Labour in British Colum- an Journal of Work and Society. 11, Autumn.
bia, 1858–1930 (Vancouver: New Star Books). Mills, Suzanne and Tyler McCreary. 2013. “Ne-
Kumar, Pradeep and Christopher Schenk (eds.). gotiating Neoliberal Empowerment: Aborigi-
2006. Paths to Union Renewal: Canadian nal People, Educational Restructuring and
Experiences. Peterborough, Ontario: Broad- Academic Labour in the North of British Co-
view Press. lumbia, Canada.” Antipode, 45, 5, November.

Laliberte, Ron and Vic Satzewich. 1999. “Native Mills, Suzanne and Tyler McCreary. 2012. “Social
Migrant Labour in the Southern Alberta Sug- Unionism, Partnership and Conflict: Union
ar-Beet Industry: Coercion and Paternalism Engagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Can-
in the Recruitment of Labour.” The Canadian ada.” Stephanie Ross and Larry Savage (eds.).
Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 36, 1. Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada.
Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.
Leah, Ronnie. 1993. “Black Women Speak Out,” in
Linda Briskin and Patricia McDermott (eds.). Mills, Suzanne and Louise Clarke. 2009. “We
Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, De- Will Go Side by Side with You.’ Labour En-
mocracy and Militancy. Toronto: University gagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Cana-
of Toronto Press. da.” Geoforum, 40.
Lezubski, Darren. 2014. Demographic Review and Mochoruk, Jim. 2004. Formidable Heritage:
Update of Selected Manitoba Urban Aborig- Manitoba’s North and the Cost of Develop-
inal Populations. Prepared for the Intergov- ment, 1870 to 1930. Winnipeg: University of
ernmental Strategic Aboriginal Alignment Manitoba Press.
(ISAA) Working Group. Winnipeg. Morrison, Maureen. 1991. “Affirmative Action,
Lithman, George. 1984. The Community Apart: Pay Equity, Sexual Harassment,” in Errol Black
A Case Study of a Canadian Indian Reserve and Jim Silver. Hard Bargains: The Manitoba
Community. Winnipeg: University of Mani- Labour Movement Confronts the 1990s. Win-
toba Press. nipeg: Manitoba Labour Education Centre.
Lutz, John. 2008. Makuk: A New History of Abo- Muszynski, Alicja. 1988. “Race and Gender: Struc-
riginal-White Relations. Vancouver: UBC Press. tural Determinants in the Formation of British
Lutz, John. 1992. “After the Fur Trade: The Abo- Columbia’s Salmon Cannery Labour Forces.”
riginal Labouring Class of British Columbia, Canadian Journal of Sociology, 13, 1–2.
1849–1890,” Journal of the Canadian Histori- Parnaby, Andy. 2006. “The Best Men that Ever
cal Association. Volume 3, Number 1. Worked the Lumber’: Aboriginal Longshore-
Macdonald, Nancy. 2015. “Welcome to Winni- men on Burrard Inlet, BC, 1863–1939.” The
peg: Where Canada’s racism problem is at its Canadian Historical Review, 87, 1, March.
worst.” Maclean’s. January 22. Patrias, Carmela. 2007. “Race, Employment Dis-
McCallum, Mary Jane Logan. 2014. Indigenous crimination, and State Complicity in War-
Women, Work and History: 1940–1980. Win- time Canada, 1939–1945.” Labour/Le Travail.
nipeg: University of Manitoba Press. 59, Spring.

14 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —

­ M ANITOBA
Pitawanakwat, Brock. 2006. “Indigenous Labour of Native Fisheries in Northern Manitoba,”
Organizing in Saskatchewan: Red Baiting and Canadian Journal of Native Studies. Volume
Red Herrings,” New Socialist. 58, September- IV, Number 2.
October. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Raibmon, Paige. 2006. “The Practice of Everyday 2015. Final Report of the Truth and Reconcilia-
Colonialism: Indigenous Women at Work in tion Commission of Canada, Volume One: Sum-
the Hop Fields and Tourist Industry of Puget mary. Toronto: James Lorimer and Company.
Sound.” Labor: Studies in Working-Class His- Wall, Carol. 2009. “Equity in Unions: Political
tory of the Americas, 3, 3. Correctness or Necessity for Survival?” in Jan-
Ross, Stephanie, Larry Savage, Errol Black and ice Foley and Patricia L. Baker (eds.). Unions,
Jim Silver. 2015. Building a Better World: An Equity, and the Path to Renewal. Vancouver:
Introduction to the Labour Movement in Can- University of British Columbia Press.
ada, Third Edition. Halifax and Winnipeg: Welch, Mary Agnes. 2016. “This year will be one
Fernwood Publishing. of reconciliation: Bowman.” Winnipeg Free
Silver, Jim. 2016. Solving Poverty: Innovative Solu- Press. January 22.
tions from Winnipeg’s Inner City. Halifax and White, Julie. 1993. Sisters and Solidarity: Unions
Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing. and Women in Canada. Toronto: Thompson
Spillett, Leslie. 2016. Personal interview. Oc- Educational Publications.
tober 13. Wien, Fred. 1986. Rebuilding the Economic Base
Thistle, Paul C. 1986. Indian-European Trade of Indian Communities: The Micmac in Nova
Relations in the Lower Saskatchewan Riv- Scotia. Montreal: The Institute for Research
er Region to 1940. Winnipeg: University of on Public Policy.
Manitoba Press. Winnipeg Free Press. 1962. “Indians Picket Nickel
Tough, Frank. 1996. ‘As Their Natural Resources Plant,” September 19.
Fail’: Native Peoples and the Economic History Winnipeg Free Press. 1962. “Indians Adamant
of Northern Manitoba. Vancouver: UBC Press. on Inco Pact,” September 20.
Tough, Frank. 1984. “The Establishment of a Woods, Cathy. 2016. Personal interview. Sep-
Commercial Fishing Industry and the Demise tember 29, 2016.

Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 15
16 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
­ M ANITOBA
Indigenous People, Wage Labour and Tr ade Unions: The Historical Experience in Canada 17
Unit 205 – 765 Main St., Winnipeg, MB  R2W 3N5
tel 204-927-3200 fa x 204-927-3201
em ail ccpamb@policyalternatives.ca
WEBSITE www.policyalternatives.ca