Date: 2008
Location: Calgary
Profile: Peter Connelly was an early AUPE activist who later became a long-time staff representative. Born and raised in Calgary, he witnessed his dad’s work life as a non-union worker. After working for Eaton’s for 35 years, his father was fired when he got ill, and received a miserable pension. Connelly served in the navy and the Edmonton police force before moving to Australia where his work made him a member of the Municipal Officers Association. Returning to Alberta in 1975, he worked as a campus patrol officer at the University of Calgary before joining the Alberta Highway Patrol just as the Civil Service Association became the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and worked to shed its company union past. Connelly became vice-chair of his AUPE chapter and then was hired as a staff representative in 1980. He handled complaints from members who felt that they were being disciplined unfairly or not receiving fair pay.
Connelly comments on the 1980 AUPE strike that began with corrections officers illegally walking out after six fruitless months of negotiations. Keypunch operators and other clerical women employees in the treasury department soon joined. The strike led to the provincial government making concessions to strikers.
Keywords: Alberta Highway Patrol; AUPE strike, 1980; Campus patrol officer; Civil Service Association; Company union; Eaton’s; Keypunch operators; Prison guards; Staff representative; University of Calgary.
Interview Transcript: Download PDF
See also: Alberta Federation of Labour; Alberta Union of Provincial Employees