Looking Back: CEDA Saturday Closings — 1947
By John Kerr
Most wholesalers remained closed on Saturdays throughout the summer, but Central District board members voted to open again on Saturdays in the fall. The Board agreed that distributors should be closed on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Monday. However, even this motion didn’t pass unanimously.
Membership policies in 1947 contrasted sharply with policies of later years. At the October Directors’ meeting a motion was proposed, seconded and passed to not recruit new members. If a non-member persisted in submitting an application despite being told of this policy, procedures were such that gaining membership was difficult and required approval by the division in which the applicant carried on business, plus final authorization and acceptance by the Board.
The question of admitting small appliance wholesalers into CEDA arose at this time. The General District had voted at a regional meeting in favour of admitting these wholesalers into CEDA, possibly as a separate division of the parent association. But the idea ran into resistance at the national level. In reviewing the issue, Director Willis pointed out that CEDA’s charter did not allow for an appliance division or for any separate, subsidiary organization. This provoked heated debate, with the matter subsequently being tabled for a year.
An indication that CEDA was maturing as an association was that the directors passed a motion instructing the secretary (association manager) to visit every member at least once a year.
Code Of Ethics — 1947
Date of issue: December 29, 1947
CEDA Incorporated — Sheet no. 7
1. The fact of membership in CEDA Incorporated shall not be used as a means of obtaining any advantage that would not accrue to a Distributor not being a member.
2. A Distributor shall maintain the integrity of the promise of his organization by living up to any agreement made between the Manufacturers and Distributors on the one hand, and the Distributors and the Retail Dealers, etc., on the other, such agreements having been entered into by the Board of Directors of CEDA Incorporated.
3. The Distributor shall not establish or maintain any repair service department which may in any way seem to be in competition with a retail trade repair service unit or organization. This shall not apply on units manufactured by the parent or affiliated organization of a Distributor.
4. A Distributor shall at all times maintain the ethics of business when dealing with other Distributors and shall not employ or arrange to employ an employee of another Distributor without first advising the employer of his intentions.
5. That this Association approves the selling of an account; as an “Industrial” account, only where there is a regularly employed, full time electrician or staff.
6. It shall not be considered ethical for a member of CEDA to sell goods, for resale, on a preferred or courtesy discount, (other than regular schedule) to any other than another member of CEDA, or a regularly recognized distributor of the goods in question.
John Kerr is Publisher of CEW.
Source: CEDA: Fifty Years of Service – An Historical Review of the Canadian Electrical Distributors Association, 1934 to 1984, Kerrwil Publications. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime if you have great photos, historical anecdotes or perspectives. We would love to hear from you; linegoyette@kerrwil.com.
