My Life as a Newfoundland Union Organizer The Memoirs of Cyril W. Strong 1912-1987 / Climate Crisis Publications (ePub)

Cyril Strong started work at the Hotel Newfoundland in 1928 at the age of 16. During the war, Newfoundland's economy soared, but the hotel employees were poorly paid. He organized a union in 1942, became its President, and skilfully negotiated a wage increase and other benefits for the hotel workers.

After serving on the executives of his local union, of the St. John's Trades and Labour Council, and of the Newfoundland Federation of Labour, he became the Newfoundland organizer for the American Federation of Labour (AFL-CIO) in 1948. As Federation organizer, he travelled the province from coast to coast, helping Newfoundland workers form unions. Travel in Newfoundland in the 1945-65 period was no small part of the job, and justified a separate chapter (10) in this book.

With the creation of the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956, Strong became a CLC representative. Although not involved directly with the IWA, Cyril saw the dramatic events of the 1959-60 IWA organizing drive and loggers strike from the inside, a story which he recounts here. This led to him to take a brief stint at provincial politics in 1959, running for the newly-formed Newfoundland Democratic Party (NDP), a name which persuaded Tommy Douglas to adopt in 1961 in place of the federal CCF.

Cyril Strong gained the respect of supporters and opponents alike during his career, and should rank among the great Newfoundlanders.