Preserving Our Past, Preparing Our Future
Preserving Our Past, Preparing Our Future records the history of the BC Labour Heritage Centre from its establishment in 2004. The video was produced in 2019 in partnership with WorkSafeBC.
The history of the BC Labour Heritage Centre is told by early organizer Mervyn van Steinberg. Archival video and photos describe founder Jack Munro’s dream of building a physical labour heritage building in Burnaby. The decision to pivot away from that project came after the realization that such a facility was beyond the labour movement’s capacity.
Focus was turned to projects such as labour history educational panels at the Vancouver Convention Centre, the BC Knowledge network video series “Working People”, and development of teaching materials for BC high schools.
After Munro’s death in 2013, Ken Novakowski assumed the role of board chair. The Centre agreed to complete Munro’s project to publish a new BC labour history book. In 2018 “On the Line: A History of the BC Labour Movement” by Rod Mickleburgh was complete, thanks to the financial support of Community Savings Credit Union.
Since that time, the Centre has carried on its work with several significant initiatives including an Oral History Project, the Asbestos Memorial: Magic & Lethal, a podcast and the preservation and archival collections.