Celebration and Reflection

By Tracy Whalen, Secretary

This final UWFA newsletter of the 2010-2011 year is one of both celebration and reflection. As many Members know, this February marked the thirtieth anniversary of the certification of our Association by the Manitoba Labour Board. Sandra Zuk, who was a negotiator for the UWFA team, communicated this memory to me:

One memory I have from the weekend marathon negotiations that resulted in agreement on all outstanding articles was everyone’s appreciation for the buffet of food set out at midnight Sunday by Gerry Sweet.  She dashed out to buy food and had the negotiation table laid out with juice, donuts, fruit, etc. when the teams returned from a caucus.  The gesture lifted all our spirits and gave us the energy to continue negotiating through the night, concluding around 7:30 a.m. Monday. We all watched the sunrise over Wesley Hall, where then President Robin Farquhar was camped out in his office to provide any direction as required by the Board team. Quite a night to remember!

Click to read more ...

The Crowe Case: A Student's Perspective

By: Joe Martin, Class of 1959

It is difficult to write about this episode even after half a century. It was a brutal, angry affair that changed my life from academia to business. NOTHING in subsequent years in business, in politics or in sport touched the intensity of the Crowe Case.

In the 1950s Harry Crowe was not only a lecturer of History at United College, he was also one of the most popular, as good a teacher of undergrads as any in Canada. He was part of a small, but distinguished History department, which also included Stewart Reid, Ken McNaught and G. K. Brown, and which had close relationships with the History department at Fort Garry headed by W. L. Morton.

As we returned to campus after the 1958 summer break, rumours were swirling that Harry had done something awful. As events unfolded we learned that what he had done was write a letter to a colleague, which somehow never reached the colleague but was received by the administration. On the basis of that intercepted letter, Harry was fired.

Click to read more ...