Western Union Housing Plan Committee - North Sydney

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Western Union Housing Plan Committee - North Sydney

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        In 1876, the Western Union Cable Office owned and operated a rooming house in North Sydney for single employees. It was sold by the company sometime before 1888 and eventually became the Albert Hotel. (Gillis, 12, 2005). Years later, in order to fulfill the need for affordable housing, The Western Union Housing Plan Committee was organized by employees of the Western Union Telegraph Company in North Sydney, Nova Scotia in cooperation with the company. The Plan gave employees the right to apply for loans from Western Union so they could purchase homes. The committee, which was led by a Treasurer/Secretary accepted loan applications from employees and worked with the secretary and treasurer at Western Union’s headquarters to determine if they qualified for the plan.

        The committee was also responsible for holding regular meetings to discuss new housing plans and to submit monthly reports to Western Union’s General Auditor about their loan accounts and the status of employee loans and insurance, and also to advise other Western Union Housing Plan committees at company sites in St. Pierre Et Miquelon and Hearts Content, NF. They also worked with Canadian Aladdin Company, a housing design firm that sold pre-fabricated homes to employees. The properties purchased by employees would belong to Western Union until the employee paid off their loan. If employees were still taking a loan from the company and they were transferred, they could either stay in the program and would be given a property in their new location or opt out of the program and lose their housing benefits. The program was intended for employees below the manager level that worked a certain number of years. The committee began in 1919 and existed until at least 1934.

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            Sources

            Western Union Housing Plan Committee (1919-28) Ledger- Western Union Housing Plan Committee, North Sydney.

            Gillis, R. (2005) Historic North Sydney- Images of Our Past. Halifax, NS: Nimbus Publishing

            See also: Telecommunications Visions From the Past - https://goo.gl/9MHmXX

            Finding aids for Western Union Telegraph Company collection at the Smithsonian - https://goo.gl/oFSUYH

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