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The Writers’ Union of Canada was founded in November of 1973 “to unite Canadian writers for the advancement of their common interests.” Drawing on extensive archival collections – from both the Writers’ Union and its member authors – this dissertation offers the first critical history of the organization and its work, from pre-founding to the early 1990s, arguing that the Writers’ Union has fundamentally influenced Canadian literature, as an industry, as a community, and as a field of study. I begin by tracing the contextual history of the organization’s founding, interrogating how union organizing, celebrity, and friendship underpin the organization’s work. Chapter One discusses the Writers’ Union’s programs, reforms, and interventions aimed at ‘fostering’ writing in Canada as I argue that the Union was instrumental in building a fiscal-cultural futurity for CanLit. In Chapter Two, I consider the role that women played in this important work, as I highlight the labour of female Union members and the all-female administrative staff, who maintained and supported the organization’s work through its first twenty years. In Chapter Three I draw attention to the stories of, perspectives of, and experiences of BIPOC authors in relation to the Writers’ Union. While the Writers’ Union’s involvement in race relations is often positioned as having ‘begun’ with the Writing Thru Race conference in 1994, this chapter uses the archives to reveal a much longer trajectory of racialized conflict within and around the organization, providing important context for the very controversial and public battles about appropriation and race that would explode in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Throughout this work, I look to see how institutional narratives are deployed and upheld, and to what ends; how successful advocacy work is often effaced and forgotten; how institutional structures function; and how their boundaries and intentions are challenged and developed over time. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The Writers’ Union of Canada was founded in November of 1973 “to unite Canadian writers for the advancement of their common interests.” Drawing on extensive archival collections – from both the Writers’ Union and its member authors – this dissertation offers the first critical history of the organization and its work, from pre-founding to the early 1990s. I argue that the Writers’ Union has fundamentally influenced Canadian literature – as an industry, as a community, and as a field of study – as I consider how unionism, literary celebrity, and friendship underpinned the organization’s work. This dissertation recuperates and comments on the important volunteer labour of Writers’ Union members in the service of literary labour, gender equity, and racial equity over the organization’s first twenty years.

Ce mémoire tente d’identifier la nature du lien entre les stratégies d’organisation syndicale et le résultat des campagnes de syndicalisation. À l’aide d’une étude du cas des campagnes d’organisation menées par les Travailleurs et travailleuses unis de l’alimentation et du commerce (TUAC) chez Wal-Mart au Québec, nous avons examiné l’impact que peuvent avoir différentes variables sur le succès d’une campagne. La littérature sur le renouveau syndical nous a permis d’identifier trois types de campagnes, soit la campagne traditionnelle, la campagne intégrale et la campagne de mouvement social, et nous a amenés à postuler que le type de campagne privilégié aura un effet sur l’impact de la campagne. Nos résultats nous permettent d’arriver à trois conclusions. Premièrement, nous notons deux tactiques relevant de la campagne traditionnelle ayant eu un impact positif sur le résultat des campagnes : l’utilisation de la technique du blitz et le recrutement de poteaux solides. Deuxièmement, le degré d’opposition patronale à la syndicalisation semble avoir un impact sur le degré de succès d’une campagne. Troisièmement, l’analyse des résultats nous permet de constater l’impact significatif du cadre juridique. L’un des éléments les plus importants est l’accréditation par décompte des adhésions comparativement à l’accréditation suite à un vote. / This research tries to identify the type of link between union organizing strategies and the result of the campaigns. Using the case of the United Food and Commerce Workers (UFCW) campaigns in Wal-Mart stores in Quebec, we examined the impact of different variables on the success of a campaign. A review of the literature on union renewal led us to identify three types of campaigns, the traditional campaign, the comprehensive campaign and the social movement campaign, and to postulate that the type of campaign has an effect on the impact of the campaign. Our results enable us to arrive to three conclusions. Firstly, we note that two tactics from the traditional campaign had a positive impact on the result of the campaigns: the use of the blitz technique and the significant involvement of employees in the campaigns. Secondly, the employer’s degree of opposition to unions seems to have an impact on the degree of success of a campaign. Thirdly, the analysis of the results demonstrates the impact of the legal framework. One of the most important elements is the card-check accreditation compared to the accreditation following a vote.

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