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This fascinating book uncovers the little-known, surprisingly radical history of the Portuguese immigrant women who worked as night-time office cleaners and daytime "cleaning ladies" in postwar Toronto.
Drawing on union records, newspapers, and interviews, feminist labour historians Susana P. Miranda and Franca Iacovetta piece together the lives of immigrant women who bucked convention by reshaping domestic labour and by leading union drives, striking for workers' rights, and taking on corporate capital in the heart of Toronto's financial district. Despite being sidelined within the labour movement and subjected to harsh working conditions in the commercial cleaning industry, the women forged critical alliances with local activists to shape picket-line culture and make an indelible mark on their communities.
Richly detailed and engagingly written, Cleaning Up is an archival treasure about an undersung piece of working-class history in urban North America. This fascinating book uncovers the little-known, surprisingly radical history of the Portuguese immigrant women who worked as night-time office cleaners and daytime "cleaning ladies" in postwar Toronto.
"Invisible no more! Through the caring labours of feminist historians Susana P. Miranda and Franca Iacovetta, the earthy humour and sassy militancy of Portuguese immigrant women office and house cleaners emerges. Their workplace activism shook Toronto's neoliberal establishment in the 1970s and 1980s, belying stereotypes of passivity and patriarchal oppression, while fighting against discrimination and exploitation. More than a recovery of heroines, this labour history underscores the perils of contracting out and the promise of grassroots coalitional struggle against bosses-and union bosses."
"Cleaning Up disproves the widespread historical image of migrant women from southern Europe as docile housewives and shows instead a group of decisive women workers who changed collective agreements and labour rights. It is a powerful story and a hopeful reminder of what workers can achieve when they organize and fight exploitation. Cleaning Up is a must-read for activists and labour historians."
"This volume is an outstanding and rich history of the labour struggles and successes of Portuguese immigrant women workers in the cleaning industry in Toronto. Women workers come alive on these pages through deep and poignant analyses of their courage and claims for dignity and self-worth. Cleaning Up has vital comparative implications today for those researching migration, gender, and work. If you want to better understand how forms of employment shape the gendered possibilities of resistance, you must read this book."
"Cleaning Up brilliantly documents the strength and determination of Portuguese/Azorean women cleaners of some of the most prestigious office towers in downtown Toronto, fighting for their employment, health, and safety rights during the 1970s and 1980s. As new immigrant women in Canada with limited education and English language skills, they defined sisterhood and solidarity and were undeterred from standing up to their employers to demand respect and dignity as workers. This recounting of their story is an important contribution to working-class history in Toronto."
"This book tells the inspiring story of the accomplishments of non-English speaking, poorly educated, and low-paid immigrant women who cleaned offices by night and private homes by day. They maintained their dignity as workers and family members, refused to abandon their original values and customs, and challenged their union. Courageously, they provided a model for all immigrant women to identify their rights and to stand up for them."
"This important study of Portuguese women who cleaned homes and corporate offices demonstrates that neither family nor educational constraints, immigration status, or language will prevent women workers from mo
Drawing on union records, newspapers, and interviews, feminist labour historians Susana P. Miranda and Franca Iacovetta piece together the lives of immigrant women who bucked convention by reshaping domestic labour and by leading union drives, striking for workers' rights, and taking on corporate capital in the heart of Toronto's financial district. Despite being sidelined within the labour movement and subjected to harsh working conditions in the commercial cleaning industry, the women forged critical alliances with local activists to shape picket-line culture and make an indelible mark on their communities.
Richly detailed and engagingly written, Cleaning Up is an archival treasure about an undersung piece of working-class history in urban North America. This fascinating book uncovers the little-known, surprisingly radical history of the Portuguese immigrant women who worked as night-time office cleaners and daytime "cleaning ladies" in postwar Toronto.
"Invisible no more! Through the caring labours of feminist historians Susana P. Miranda and Franca Iacovetta, the earthy humour and sassy militancy of Portuguese immigrant women office and house cleaners emerges. Their workplace activism shook Toronto's neoliberal establishment in the 1970s and 1980s, belying stereotypes of passivity and patriarchal oppression, while fighting against discrimination and exploitation. More than a recovery of heroines, this labour history underscores the perils of contracting out and the promise of grassroots coalitional struggle against bosses-and union bosses."
"Cleaning Up disproves the widespread historical image of migrant women from southern Europe as docile housewives and shows instead a group of decisive women workers who changed collective agreements and labour rights. It is a powerful story and a hopeful reminder of what workers can achieve when they organize and fight exploitation. Cleaning Up is a must-read for activists and labour historians."
"This volume is an outstanding and rich history of the labour struggles and successes of Portuguese immigrant women workers in the cleaning industry in Toronto. Women workers come alive on these pages through deep and poignant analyses of their courage and claims for dignity and self-worth. Cleaning Up has vital comparative implications today for those researching migration, gender, and work. If you want to better understand how forms of employment shape the gendered possibilities of resistance, you must read this book."
"Cleaning Up brilliantly documents the strength and determination of Portuguese/Azorean women cleaners of some of the most prestigious office towers in downtown Toronto, fighting for their employment, health, and safety rights during the 1970s and 1980s. As new immigrant women in Canada with limited education and English language skills, they defined sisterhood and solidarity and were undeterred from standing up to their employers to demand respect and dignity as workers. This recounting of their story is an important contribution to working-class history in Toronto."
"This book tells the inspiring story of the accomplishments of non-English speaking, poorly educated, and low-paid immigrant women who cleaned offices by night and private homes by day. They maintained their dignity as workers and family members, refused to abandon their original values and customs, and challenged their union. Courageously, they provided a model for all immigrant women to identify their rights and to stand up for them."
"This important study of Portuguese women who cleaned homes and corporate offices demonstrates that neither family nor educational constraints, immigration status, or language will prevent women workers from mo