AL CAMPBELL AND THE LEFT: BUILDING UAW/CAW LOCAL 27

Abstract

The role of the Left in unions, women’s activism, and the rise of industrialunions in the post-World War II decades have been the subject of valuableacademic scrutiny. This article seeks to add to our understanding of these topicsby looking at the role that one prominent activist—Al Campbell—played inbuilding UAW/CAW Local 27 from the mid-1950s to theearly 1970s. Campbellstrongly advocated an independent Canadian autoworkers’ union, supportedwomen’s activism, and was instrumental in helping expand a major compositelocal in the union. I argue in this article that,in order to understand the nature ofthe post-war Canadian labour movement, we need to devote greater attention tothe role of devoted leftists in building local unions.