Sweatshop strife: class, ethnicity, and gender in the Jewish labour movement in Toronto, 1900-1939

In the first half of the 20th century, many of Toronto's immigrant Jews eked out a living in the needle-trade sweatshops of Spadina Avenue. In response to their exploitation on the shop floor, immigrant Jewish garment workers built one of the most advanced sections of the Canadian and American labour movements. This study examines the development of this movement, its sources of strength, and its limitations, focusing particularly on the complex interplay of class, ethnic, and gender interests and identities in the history of the movement. The first chapters examine the relationships between Jewish workers and Jewish manufacturers as well as relations between Jewish and non-Jewish workers and male and female workers in the clothing industry. Chapters 5 to 7 explore the gender dynamics within the movement, including the dearth of female-oriented organising strategies and union policies, and chapter 8 examines the development of political factionalism in Toronto's needle trades in the 1920s and 1930s. -from Author