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

Gruda speaks about her involvement in the certification of the Carleton University Support Staff Association (CUSSA) in the mid 1970s. She worked in the library and was involved in a movement in 1972 to organize support staff in the Carleton University Library into a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local. While this campaign failed, Gruda and other staff continued to be interested in unionizing and later joined staff from other units across campus in the succesful certification drive that began in 1975 and culminated with certification in March 1976. She describes the first library campaign and the events leading up to the later decision to certify the existing staff association (i.e., CUSSA), including the challenges faced in overcoming opposition to unionization by 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 and the status of women on campus. Uncorrected transcript (approximately 30 p.) from the original audio tape. Number of sessions: 1 Length of interview: Approximately 120 minutes. Place of interview: Her home, Ottawa, Ontario Date of interview: March 17, 2011 Language of interview: English Name of transcriber: Teevi Mackay Date of transcription: July - August, 2011 Software used for transcription: NVivo