Naval Unionism

The year was 1939. World War II saw great numbers of employees recruited by His Majesty’s Canadian Dockyard at Halifax. Most of them were hourly paid and represented either by the Canadian Congress of Labour or the Trades and Labour Congress. In 1940 they formed the Halifax Naval Civil Servants Association; but it fell into disrepair with the end of the war.

On 27 May 1947, 26 members of the Naval Stores Branch gathered together to establish an Association of all civil servants in the Halifax area. Henry Peckham was elected president of the newly formed group. He also became the first delegate to represent the new Association at the Civil Service Federation (CSF) Convention held in Ottawa that November.

In December 1950, our very own Ken Green was elected 2nd Vice-President. The following year, he proposed the Association’s name be changed to the Naval Civil Service Association of Halifax and District.

The Executive Officers of the Association were a big driving force behind the future formation of the National Defence Employees Association (NDEA). They carried on a running correspondence with CSF officers and other affiliated Defence Department groups.

Their wish was fulfilled in June 1953 when a convention was held in Quebec City for the express purpose of creating NDEA. Ken Green attended along with four other Halifax delegates. He had the honour of proposing:

That the Group present go on record as endorsing the formation of a national organization of Department of National Defence Employees.

As we all know so well, that event marked not the end of Ken’s quest but the beginning of a lifetime of dedication for NDEA/UNDE.