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  • Canadian Committee on Labour History University of Waterloo, Ontario, 30 May 2012

In Attendance

  • Alvin Finkel,

  • Greg Kealey,

  • Ben Isitt,

  • Jeff Taylor,

  • Kathy Killoh,

  • Bryan Palmer,

  • Joan Sangster,

  • Jennifer Anderson,

  • Myron Momryk,

  • Donica Belisle,

  • Craig Heron,

  • Jason Russell,

  • Linda Kadis

  • John Price,

  • Janis Thiessen,

  • Richard Allen,

  • Marcia Braundy.

The meeting was called to order at 12:05 pm, with President Alvin Finkel in the chair.

Approval of the Agenda

Bryan Palmer moved that the agenda be approved as presented, seconded by Donica Belisle.

carried unanimously [End Page 365]

Approval of Minutes of 2011 Annual Meeting

Janis Thiessen moved that the Minutes of the 2011 Annual Meeting be approved as presented, seconded by Bryan Palmer.

carried unanimously

Business Arising

The President informed the committee that business arising from last year’s minutes would be dealt with under specific items on the agenda.

President’s Report

Alvin Finkel provided his President’s Report.

He noted the recipients of the 2012 Eugene A. Forsey Prize in Canadian Labour and Working-Class History:

Jessica van Horssen was awarded the graduate prize for her doctoral dissertation, defended at the University of Waterloo in 2010, “Asbestos, Quebec: The Town, the Mineral, and the Local-Global Balance between the Two.”

Alison McMahon was awarded the undergraduate prize for her essay, “Fair Play for Cuba: the British Columbia Left Greets the Cuban Revolution, 1959–1965,” completed at the University of British Columbia in 2011.

The president advised that no cclh workshop took place at this year’s Congress due to a lack of organizers in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

The President’s report was tabled temporarily pending consideration of other matters of business.

Editor’s Report

Bryan Palmer provided his report as Editor of the journal Labour/Le Travail.

The journal remains in very good financial shape, as does the relationship with Athabasca University (AU Press).

Dr. Palmer thanked staff at AU Press, including Kathy Killoh, and thanked Donica Belise for assuming the role of Book Review Editor. He also thanked Alvin Finkel for his prior service as Book Review Editor.

According to Dr. Palmer, the biggest challenge facing l/lt is declining print subscriptions to the journal, a problem facing other journals. [End Page 366]

He suggested that the committee focus on enhancing the journal’s digital presence and revenues while maintaining print subscriptions at the current level.

He noted that the journal is always looking for new submissions and said that the field is increasingly a cross-over field, focused on a broad conception of class, conjoined with other categories of analysis (race, gender, ethnicity, place/region).

He noted the decline in younger scholars defining themselves as labour historians per se, which presents both strengths and challenges to the journal.

The challenge is to continue to present the journal as a compelling and important place to publish their work.

The journal would like to increase the volume of submissions to the journal.

Dr. Palmer reported that the release of the current issue of the journal has been delayed (a rare occurrence), but will be released by the summer.

The committee accepted the Editor’s Report as presented.

President’s Report (Resumed)

Alvin Finkel resumed his President’s Report.

Dr. Finkel asked for volunteers to serve on the Forsey Prize committees for 2013.

Turning to the cclh publications series, Dr. Finkel noted that four titles had been added to the “Working Canadians” series, published jointly by cclh and AU Press and edited by Greg Kealey and Alvin Finkel:

Eric Strikwerda, The Wages of Relief: Cities and the Unemployed in Prairie Canada, 1929–39

David Frank, Provincial Solidarities: A History of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour (aussi traduit en français par Réjean Ouellette)

Carmela Patrias and Larry Savage, Union Power: Solidarity and Struggle in Niagara

Alvin Finkel, Working People in Alberta: A History

Dr. Finkel also drew the committee’s attention to two additional works in the field published by AU Press:

Todd McCallum, Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver. [End Page 367]

Jason Russell, Our Union:uaw/cawLocal 27 from 1950 to 1990.

A fulsome discussion followed the President’s Report, centring on the publishing...

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