White cut his teeth in the trade union movement at the height of the post- World War II boom. Between 1946 and 1972, real per capita income in Canada more than doubled. In the wake of the 1965 Canada-US Auto Pact, hiring in the auto assembly and parts industries sky-rocketed. Workers unhappy with a particular job, or even a foreman, could walk down the street and gain employment in another factory. For a short period, under these conditions, workers won as many contract struggles as they lost, although often this required that they defy the conservative, virulently anti-communist union apparatus. Between 1965 and 1975 there was a flurry of wildcat strikes.