Board & Staff
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Betty Gaertner
Chair
Directors
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Suellen Boyd
Talia Klein Leighton
Laurel Rothman
Carrie Goldstein Mazoff
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Founders
Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld
Dodo Heppner
Roger Hyman
United Bakers
Food Labour & Justice
“Is this humane? Is this kosher?... Jews! Whoever is for God, follow me! Don’t be enablers of sinners! Jewish hearts! Should the Jewish feeling of mercy persist inside you, save forty families from being forever enslaved and ruined; help us! It will cost you no money to ensure we don’t have to work twenty-two hours out of every twenty-four" Butchers’ letter to the Jewish public, 1920s
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, food producers and purveyors of all sorts had unions and associations that allowed them to undertake co-operative action and seek commercial protections and guarantees of employment. Meatpackers, slaughterers, chicken butchers, bakers, and butter dealers: whether they were part of an old trade guild or independent merchants, most types of food labourers sought support and used these groups to garner public support for their working conditions. In the 1920s, for example, forty butchers appealed to the Jewish public to consider their conditions, working throughout the day and night, delivering, preparing, and covering the expense of checking the chickens themselves.Â
The most enduring and beloved dairy restaurant in Toronto, United Bakers, united two baking families through the marriage of its founders, Aaron and Ruth Ladovsky. Aaron Ladovsky also founded Local 181, the Toronto chapter of the Bakery and Confectionery Workers’ International Union of America, and was joined by the folks at Perlmutter’s, Gryfe’s and other local bakeries. In 1934, the Local won an eight-hour day and a wage raise of $2 per week.
Discussion questions:
What are ethical standards that all food labourers should have as a bare minimum? More broadly, how can we strengthen and support workers' rights?
What role can collective bargaining and unions play in protecting food workers' rights, whether at a grocery store, restaurant, farm, or distribution centre? How can we support food workers' unions?
Image attributions:
Man carrying sandwich board of the Ontario Poultry Buyers strike, Kensington Market, Toronto, 1939. OJA, Item # 3875.
Rose Lieberman, Rose [Hanford?] Green and Aaron and Sarah Ladovsky in front of United Bakers restaurant, Spadina Ave., Toronto, 1920. Ontario Jewish Archives, fonds 83, file 9, item 16.
