An Integral Life in Construction

Former workers movement activist Marino Toppan relives past in The Voice of Labour

Many of us hadn't arrived in Canada yet, some weren't even born, but in 1960-61 two great strikes changed this country's construction industry in depth. In what was a land of lawlessness, with no protection for workers, concepts like workplace safety and fair wages entered the Canadian vocabulary. The movement was led by a group of organizers, mostly Italian, who created the Brandon Union Group, the base for the future international unions of labourers, bricklayers, plasterers, cement finishers and carpenters.
Their names belong in the history of the Canadian workers' movement: Bruno Zanini, Frank Colantonio, George Petta, Marino Toppan, and others.
More than 40 years after those tough victories, Marino Toppan himself decided to write his memoirs, titled The Voice of Labour, an autobiography that, he hopes, could become a testimony to future generations.
For those who, like this scribe, came to this country by plane, not ship, knowing English and with a diploma in their pockets, reliving those experiences is impossible and probably wrong anyway, but learning about them in order to understand a bit of Canadian history through the eyes of an immigrant can be very useful.
Useful, and interesting to boot, was also the dinner organized by Local 506, presenting Toppan's book, and subsequent reading of its introduction, written by Angelo Principe, which describes the conditions of Italian immigrants in the late '50s and the birth of the "Italian" workers' movement.
Chatting with Toppan during the dinner at the Montecassino Banquet Hall, we listened to his memories of those two strikes, "illegal" at the time, with some days of clashes and some of discussions.
Everything started from the Hogg's Hollow tragedy, where five workers of Italian origin died in a workplace accident at a subway construction site, caused by lack of basic safety rules.
In 1960 and then in 1961, Zanini, Toppan and their friends convinced thousands of workers, Italians at first and later from other cultural backgrounds as well, to protest the appalling conditions they were forced to work in.
The main title on the July 19, 1961 issue of Corriere Canadese read, "Strike Over - Everybody Returning to Work". The article, by Ottorino Bressan, stated, "After over seven weeks of paralysis of all Toronto Subway construction sites, workers are returning today to their regular work, certain of having won better conditions and protection from any unjust treatment by their employers."
The victory came thanks to the organizational skills and sheer stubbornness of those young organizers who would go on fighting in defense of workers. Toppan would later adhere to Local 506 of LIUNA (Labourers' International Union of North America) and be repeatedly elected president.
After retiring, in addition to writing his memoirs, Toppan has become active with the Golden Age seniors group, and still promotes it with pleasure and dedication.
Among the guests saluting Marino Toppan and his new book at the Local 506 dinner were Joseph Mancinelli, Vice President of LIUNA and Regional Manager for Canada; Carmen Principato, Business Manager of Local 506; Professor Elio Costa of York University; Vaughan Mayor Michael Di Biase; York Region Councillor Linda Jackson; and journalist Cesare Pella who assisted Toppan in writing his book.

Publication Date: 2004-01-18
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3539