Solidarity by Association: The Unionization of Faculty, Academic Librarians and Support Staff at Carleton University (1973-1976) Transcript [Finn]

Finn speaks about her involvement in the certification of the Carleton University Support Staff Association (CUSSA) in the mid 1970s. She was a key support staff union organizer from 1973 to 1976. She describes her working life at Carleton for support staff, particularly women in administrative and clerical jobs. She also discusses the trigger events that led to support for unionization, including the lay off of two employees in March 1975, as well as the challenges faced in overcoming opposition to unionization from support staff who did not believe that unions were appropriate for them, as white-collar workers. She describes the context in which this significant shift in occupational status took place, including the gendered the nature of the university workplace. In particular, she talks about working conditions for female support staff on campus and the status of women in general. Uncorrected transcript (approximately 30 p.) from the original audio tape. Number of sessions: 1 Length of interview: Approximately 2 hours. Place of interview: The foyer of her apartment building, Ottawa, Ontario Date of interview: March 22, 2011 Language of interview: English Name of transcriber: Teevi Mackay Date of transcription: July - August, 2011 Software used for transcription: NVivo (2017-01-11)