Imperfect Union : Canadian Labour and the Left - Part 1 - International Background - Canadian Roots

World War II turns Canada into an industrial power, and creates a mass trade-union movement. Mackenzie King responds with unemployment insurance and full legal status for unions. In 1944, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation comes to power in Saskatchewan, under Tommy Douglas, the first socialist government in North America. With the formation of the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956, CCF and CLC energies are directed toward the formation of the New Democratic Party in 1961. Part 3 of the series.

The world plunges into the Great Depression which, like most leaders, Canada's R.B. Bennett refuses to combat with unbalanced budgets and government spending. Inspired by reports from Russia, many turn to communism for solutions. The 1937 General Motors strike in Oshawa gives the Congress of Industrial Organizations a toehold in Canada, but on the eve of World War II Canada's tiny unions remain blocked by restrictive labour laws and, like the equally tiny Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, locked in struggle with communist rivals. Part 2.

Because the filmmakers were given unparalleled freedom to record the historic 1984 contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corporation, Final Offer provides a vividly accurate portrait of a high-level labour negotiation. This film is an invaluable document for anyone interested in the complexities of United States-Canada relations. Because of tensions that developed between the American and Canadian sectors of the UAW during the contract talks, the film concludes with Bob White, the charismatic head of the Canadians, leading his membership out of the international union. Final Offer is an extraordinary film about revolutionary events.