Series S4 - Service, Office and Retail Workers of Canada (SORWUC)

This series consists of files related to the Service Office and Retail Workers of Canada (SORWUC), an independent feminist union based in Vancouver. Wendy McPeake was active in SORWUC (Local 7) involved in setting up Local 7 and the initial stages of contract development (Wendy McPeake, letter of May 31, 2016). Continuing the focus on workplace and labour issues, the Feminist Action Collective became a chartered local of the SORWUC/Local 7, in 1983. The series contains administrative records, lists, and records related to sponsored workshops on unions: “History of SORWUC: Why a Feminist Union?”, “Daycare Workers Organize the Workplace: What can be Learned?”, “L’Union du Canada: Insurance Workers Break New Ground”, “Mothers, Domestic Workers and Volunteers: Recognizing and Organizing”. The series includes records related to SORWUC Local 7 actions to organize and represent a bargaining unit of workers at Interval House of Ottawa, a home for women escaping domestic abuse. “By the time, the SORWUC contract was negotiated, an exodus of Ottawa feminists to Vancouver left the Ottawa movement tired and burned out.” (Wendy McPeake, letter of May 31, 2016).