Harry Antonides: Co-founder of the Christian Labour Association of Canada 1931 – 2022
By Sue Careless
HARRY ANTONIDES, a founder of the Christian Labour Association of Canada and also the co-founder of the faith-based think tank that eventually became Cardus, passed away on Nov. 4. He was 91.
Antonides was a passionate advocate for Christian action, witness and renewal in society. A voracious reader, he knew well that “ideas have legs.” He was a prolific writer on labour relations, and on many cultural and societal issues as well. His sphere of influence over the years was extensive.
He was one of a group of Canadians, many of whom were Dutch immigrants who came to Canada after the Second World War, who decided to form a union with principles of dignity, justice, stewardship and respect, and which allowed freedom of association. Those immigrants were accustomed to the European model of labour relations, with freedom of association allowed amongst a variety of unions to choose from.
In Canada, however, people who disagreed with the policies of their workplace union had no option other than to work in a non-unionized shop. Many non-unionized shops had lower safety and wage standards than unionized shops. On Feb. 20 1952, the Christian Labour Association (CLAC) was formed.
Although the founders of CLAC were Christian and wanted their union to be based on Christian social principles, they did not require members to be Christian.
Antonides was born in 1931 in the Netherlands, one of ten children. He emigrated to Canada in 1948, initially working as a farm hand in the tobacco fields and as a railway worker. He worked for 13 years at Dow Chemical in Sarnia, Ont. but became persona non grata with no chance of advancement when he refused to join their union.
It was during this time that he, along with Ed Vanderkloet and Gerald Vanderzande, founded the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC). In 1962 Antonides became its second full-time employee as the field representative in the west. By 1970 he became director of research and education and co-editor of their publication The Guide.
In 1974, he was a founding member with Bernard Zylstra of the charity Work Research Foundation (now Cardus) and founding editor of their Comment magazine. WRF hoped to develop a Christian approach to industrial relations and economics.
A prolific writer and dynamic speaker, the high school graduate delivered lectures all over North America and published numerous articles, reviews and essays that won the respect of credentialed scholars. He was the author of several books on Christianity, labour and economics, including Multinationals and the Peaceable Kingdom (1978) and Stones for Bread: The Social Gospel and its Contemporary Legacy (1985).
In Stones for Bread Antonides examined the superficiality of liberal Christianity and proposed a more vigorous and balanced defence of biblical religion, especially in the area of Canadian political theology.
Antonides and other CLAC leaders endured great struggles in the early years of their union. It took guts and perseverance to withstand threats and assaults from other trade unions but Antonides, a gentle, self-deprecating man, was never cowed and his tenacity energized others.
In a 1997 interview Antonides said, “If the communists could sing their songs, and the socialists have their creeds, surely a union that confesses to be guided by Christian principles also had its place.”
CLAC repeatedly tried to gain certification in Ontario and was repeatedly denied on the alleged basis of being discriminatory.
Frustrated by the Ontario Labour Board’s repeated refusal to recognize CLAC locals, CLAC applied for a judicial review by the Ontario Supreme Court of the refusal to grant certification to CLAC Local 52. In 1963, Chief Justice James Chalmers McRuer issued a decision, disagreeing with the Labour Board’s refusal to certify CLAC. McRuer found that neither CLAC’s constitution nor its practices were discriminatory. He ordered the board’s decision to be quashed and so CLAC gained the right to certify locals.
Since its formation in 1952, the union has successfully negotiated over 7,000 collective agreements and provincial and federal labour boards have granted over 2,600 bargaining unit certificates.
Today CLAC is one of the largest independent multi-sector unions in Canada. It represents over 60,000 workers under some 550 collective agreements. Members work in almost every sector of the economy: construction, social services, healthcare, emergency services, transportation, retail, education, hospitality and manufacturing.
CLAC opposes what it calls the undemocratic, adversarial and monopolistic practices of the labour movement. In the face of intense adversity from unions that saw workplaces as war zones, the founders set out to create a different kind of labour union on the belief that people, businesses and work communities flourish when workplaces are based on cooperation and mutual respect.
In negotiating wages and benefits for its members, the CLAC considers the “economic viability of the enterprise.” The association supports the open shop as an expression of the principle of free association and as a balance between individual and collective interests.
CLAC is independent of the Canadian Labour Congress but is an affiliated member of the World Organization of Workers.
CLAC’s members fund a variety of benefit programs such as health and disability insurance, pension and retirement plans, apprenticeship subsidies, training grants and training centres, layoff assistance and a strike fund.
On its website CLAC says: “We work with governments of all stripes, but we are non-partisan. We do not support any political parties or candidates. We do not tell our members how to vote. We do meet regularly with government officials to discuss labour and economic matters, and contribute submissions on pending legislation affecting workers. We also attend some political functions to advocate for our members.”
Ray Pennings, Executive Vice-President of Cardus, praised Antonides as someone who “invested in people. He never saw a competitor but a peer. He saw the gifts God had given them” and helped draw them out. He also said his mentor practised “intellectual hospitality.” He dealt honestly and respectfully with those with whom he disagreed.
Antonides held firmly to the Heidelberg Confession in which he was raised. Its opening lines were quoted at his funeral:
What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own but belong–body and soul, in life and in death–to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ…
Harry Antonides is predeceased by his wife Janet who, after their 69-year marriage, died in 2021. He is survived by their three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as by six of his nine siblings.
The tall, gracious, unassuming man with an enormous smile leaves an incredible legacy in both the Christian Labour Association of Canada and in Cardus.
