La grève générale des charpentiers-menuisiers de Montréal, 1833–1834: réévaluation d’un acte fondateur autour du concept de légitimité

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
La grève générale des charpentiers-menuisiers de Montréal, 1833–1834: réévaluation d’un acte fondateur autour du concept de légitimité
Abstract
In 1833, shortly before the start of the construction season, the journeyman carpenters in Montreal announced that they would no longer work beyond a ten-hour day, which, if not granted, would provoke them to strike. The author notes that following a partial victory with the employers, the movement resumed in 1834 and even extended to masons, shoemakers, tailors and bakers in the city. An alliance of several masters (Anglophone and Francophone), however, caused this movement for a ten-hour workday to collapse as early as May 1834. The author argues that the issues behind the carpenters' strike went beyond the demand for the ten-hour day. It is his contention that the issue was a power-struggle between a new oligarchy of entrepreneurs-architects and a coalition of journeyman carpenters and small-scale artisan entrepreneurs who sought recognition of their legitimacy, in a context where traditions of mutuality and customs related to the practice of carpentry were threatened by the underground action of the commercial economy. The author points out that from this conflict would emerge two world visions: a republican conception of the common good and social justice, and a liberal conception of the rights of property and authority.
Publication
Labour / Le Travail
Volume
Vol. 81
Pages
9-52
Date
Printemps 2018
Language
fr
URL
Citation
Tremblay, Robert. “La grève générale des charpentiers-menuisiers de Montréal, 1833–1834: réévaluation d’un acte fondateur autour du concept de légitimité.” Labour / Le Travail Vol. 81 (Printemps 2018): 9–52. http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/5881/6740.
Find in a library
Permalink