Retour sur les origines du mouvement ouvrier québécois : profil et aspirations des militants syndicaux et démocrates durant les années 1830

The author develops a portrait of 80 labour activists who agitated in Lower Canada during the 1830s. This turbulent period of history, culminating in the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838, gave rise to a variety of protests, including those associated with early union organizing. As such, the author argues that the subjects of his biographical reflections could be considered precursors of the labour movement in Quebec. Of the 80 individuals studied by the author, 52 were Anglophones of British, Irish or Scottish descent. This first generation of labour activists belonged to trades (typographers, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters/joiners, etc) whose upward mobility had been curbed by the consolidating labour market and the first attempts to rationalize work in the manufacturing sector. In adding a personal dimension to the labour actions and discourses of the 1830s, the author highlights the diversity of militant activity in the period (unions, cooperatives, mechanic institutes, mutual societies, civic associations against monopolies, etc). His biographical presentation also underscores the important role of labour exchange agencies under union control in regulating work in cities, as well as the importance of the ideology of republicanism within the labour movement. The author concludes that the biographical material draws attention to the astonishing ambivalence of the labouring classes with respect to the Lower Canadian Patriote and political reform movement during the 1830s.

Labour / Le Travail

Vol. 72

11-36

2013

fr