Cleaning Up

Cover of 'Cleaning Up' by Luso-Canadian author Susana P. Miranda, depicting the struggle of Portuguese women in Toronto

This fascinating book uncovers the little-known, surprisingly radical history of the Portuguese immigrant women who worked as night-time office cleaners and daytime â oecleaning ladiesâ 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 workersâ (TM) rights, and taking on corporate capital in the heart of Torontoâ (TM)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.

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