AUCE Achieves Full Maternity Benefits, 1972, Podcast Ep. 6
In one of the earliest victories of its kind, a newly certified independent union negotiated a contract guaranteeing that new mothers would receive a full wage top-up, as well as job and seniority protection. This episode of our On the Line podcast documents the landmark achievement made by the Association of University and College Employees Local 1, representing clerical and library staff at the University of British Columbia.
Publication date: March 1, 2021
Podcast length: 29:42
Guest hosted by: Bailey Garden
Research and writing by: Patricia Wejr and Rod Mickleburgh
Production by: John Mabbott
Guest host Bailey Garden provides a detailed account of the social and political context surrounding this milestone. Emerging from the socialist feminist Vancouver Women’s Caucus and its offshoot, the Working Women’s Association, AUCE was formed by a predominantly young and female workforce. Their goals extended beyond basic wage increases to include broader principles of equity, workplace democracy, and gender justice. The union’s constitution reflected these priorities, including a commitment to equal pay for equal work and member-led decision-making.
Through archival interviews and excerpts from the 2018 CUPE 2950 documentary A Union for Working Women at UBC, founding members describe their organizing efforts, internal debates, and strategic use of consensus-based bargaining. Organizers divided the campus into twelve geographic zones and mobilized hundreds of workers in a campaign that challenged assumptions about clerical work, women’s economic independence, and the legitimacy of self-organized unions.
The episode also recounts the resistance faced during negotiations, including employer claims that women were working only for “pin money” and lacked long-term career expectations. A spontaneous walkout, teach-in, and overwhelming member turnout at ratification meetings demonstrated the union’s resolve and cohesion. The resulting collective agreement, finalized in September 1974, included maternity provisions that were later challenged by federal authorities but upheld in court.
In addition to setting a bargaining precedent, the success of AUCE Local 1 contributed to structural change within Canadian public sector unions. The local joined CUPE in 1985 and remains active today as CUPE 2950. The episode positions AUCE’s early gains as foundational to the advancement of parental benefits, pay equity, and feminist trade unionism in Canada.