In the 1970s, the phrase “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” was a slogan for a brand of American cigarettes, Virginia Slims. They were thinner and longer than regular brands and designed for a feminine hand.
According to the ad men, women were “liberated” enough to have their very own cigarettes.
The slogan became the mantra for the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s when women were entering the workforce at a steady pace and were being hired for jobs and entering professions historically held by men.
In 1974 women “came a long way” after revisions to Ontario’s Mines Regulation Act allowed Inco to hire women for hourly rated jobs at its surface operations. (Women were not allowed to work underground in Ontario until 1978.)
Cathy Mulroy was one of the first women hired by the company for a non-traditional job since the Second World War when a small number of women were recruited temporarily to replace men serving overseas.
The 19-year-old mother of two got a good-paying job in the Copper Cliff Copper Refinery. To say her male co-workers didn’t like working with the petite teenager would be putting it mildly.
But Mulroy, the daughter of a hard rock miner, was “nobody’s baby,” and she fought against harassment and discrimination for 30 years before retiring in 2004. Along the way, she became a labour, health and safety and women’s rights activist.
In retirement, she wrote a book about her experiences, “My View from the Blackened Rock,” which was published in 2019.
“The Steelworkers donated the hall for the book launch,” she said proudly, acknowledging the acceptance and support from Local 6500’s mostly male membership.
The union local has also contributed to her campaign to raise money to make a short film based on her book.
She has written a docudrama based on the book’s Chapter 52, which explores the author’s experiences during the Steelworkers’ strike of 1978-79, when she found her own voice in the fight for social justice and women’s equality.
“After the big strike of ’78, I changed,” she said. “The strike gave me confidence. I learned my rights. I learned I could get out of my first marriage and go on my own. Going back to work, (after 234 days on the picket line) things happened … I no longer was going to put up with some of the things men were doing. I think they had a hate-on for me.”
About a year ago Mulroy, who is 72, took her idea to a Scriptfest event at Sudbury’s Indie Cinema. Although her pitch didn’t win the support of organizers, she met some filmmakers who were very interested in the story.
She doesn’t have experience in filmmaking, but assistant director Olena Sharhan, line director Christina MacDonald and cinematographer Zha Babaieva do.
“I wrote my own script. I took some courses and I rewrote it and rewrote it,” she said. “And we were still doing tweaks to it. I am so happy to have these creative people on my team.”
Currently, Mulroy is raising money through GoFundMe to make the film.
A fundraising event was held Aug. 6 at GK Studio at 15 MacKenzie St.
GK Studios is a music, film and photography studio located in the former CBC Radio building.
In addition to music, food and a photo exhibit from Mulroy’s archives, there was a silent auction where some of her art pieces were sold.
During the pandemic, she discovered another talent. She makes art objects and wreaths from vintage jewelry.
Mulroy was honoured as a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA in 2013 for inspiring “generations of women to persevere and achieve their goals, despite the obstacles they may face.”
You’ve come a long way, Cathy.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer. Prime is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
