In the 1970s, Bell Canada was Canada's largest corporation. It employed thousands of people, including a large number of women who worked as operators and endured very poor pay and working conditions. Joan Roberts, a former operator, tells the story of how she and a group of dedicated labour organizers helped to initiate a campaign to unionize Bell Canada's operators.

From the point of view of the workers and the organizers, Roberts tells an important story in Canada's labour history. The unionization of Bell Canada's operators was a huge victory for Canada's working women. The victory at Bell established new standards for women in other so-called "pink-collar" jobs.

Autorentext
Joan M. Roberts served as a union organizer for the phone operators at Bell Canada. She later worked as a development consultant for the Labour Council Development Foundation. Currently, she runs a training and consulting practice. She lives in Toronto.

Inhalt
Table of Contents  Acknowledgements 

Introduction 
Chapter 1 Bell Canada: The Company 
Chapter 2 The Occupation of Telephone Operator 
Chapter 3 Co-opting Organized Resistance: Company Unionism in Action 
Chapter 4 Setting the Stage 
Chapter 5 The Pre-Campaign 
Chapter 6 The CWC Card-Signing Campaign 
Chapter 7 The CUC Defence 
Chapter 8 The Wait 
Chapter 9 The Second Card-Signing Campaign and the Vote 
Chapter 10 Collective Bargaining and Early Job Action 
Chapter 11 Strike 
Chapter 12 Outside Support Makes the Difference 
Chapter 13 After the Strike 
Chapter 14 Wrapping Up and Thinking about the Future

Image Credits
Notes
Bibliography
Index