Did you know that October is Women’s History Month in Canada? This year’s theme is #MakeAnImpact – we would like to highlight a woman in BC’s labour history who certainly did just that. Helena Gutteridge, ca. 1911 – City of Vancouver Archives [371-2693] The 1912 recession was difficult for all Read more…
With high unemployment and a recession in full swing, the Asiatic Exclusion League (AEL) was formed by the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council in August 1907, with the aim of “keeping Oriental immigrants out of British Columbia”. It is a sad and troubling part of BC’s labour history. Unfortunately, this Read more…
(Excerpt from On the Line: A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement, by Rod Mickleburgh [2018]) The thousands of Chinese immigrants who endured so much helping to unite Canada by rail left little record of their ordeal. But we do have one personal account written by former railway Read more…
(Photo: Four members of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Canadian Pacific Railroad Division, posed standing: Frank Collins, Joe(?) Hudson, L.M. Alexander, and Sam Lewis, ca. 1943. Frank Collins became President of the Vancouver Division of the Union, as well as the BC branch of the Canadian League for the Read more…