Anti-union activity

Patrick Burns opened his first slaughterhouse in Calgary in 1890. In 1907 Burns & Co built “a large and modern packing plant” in Vancouver, at the foot of Woodland Drive. By the 1940s, the meatpacking industry was dominated by three large...

In the 1960s, court injunctions became a prevalent tactic used by employers to control labour. This led to frequent jailings of union leaders for defying these injunctions. Sean Griffin humorously recounts a common anecdote of a judge granting an injunction...

In 1987, the Social Credit government in British Columbia introduced a new Labour Code that significantly impacted the labour movement. The new Code abolished the Labour Relations Board, replacing it with an Industrial Relations Council that held extensive authority to...

This bronze plaque is located in Dallas Square, in downtown Nanaimo, BC. It was developed with the support of the Nanaimo, Duncan, & District Labour Council. The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized foundry in Richmond which has...

This bronze plaque is located at the Unifor Local 2301 office at 235 Enterprise Ave, Kitimat, BC It was developed with the support of Unifor Local 2301 and the Kitimat, Terrace and District Labour Council. The plaque was cast at...

"The March to Ballantyne Pier" by Janet Mary Nicol, provides a detailed account of a pivotal event in Vancouver's labour history: the longshoremen's strike and the subsequent violent confrontation at Ballantyne Pier on June 18, 1935.

A strike by longshore workers in 1935 was a show of solidarity with other waterfront unions in Vancouver, Powell River, and Port Alberni in response to the Shipping Federation's refusal to negotiate.

‘Dunsmuir’ is an infamous name in British Columbia, particularly related to coal mines on Vancouver Island, this film presents a snapshot of working in Dunsmuir-run coal mines in the 19th century. See the rest of our Working People Lesson Plans...

Wayne Mills is a second-generation operating engineer with decades of involvement in the labour movement. In this interview, Wayne discusses his early training and work experiences operating large cranes on various construction projects across British Columbia, including dams and mines....

Terry Engler recounts his experiences growing up in a working-class family in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and his involvement with the Local 400 union, which represents tugboat workers on the West Coast. He describes the day-to-day work of a tugboat cook,...

Before British Columbia had modern labour laws, government and the courts frequently used their powers to keep unions under their thumbs, and out of their workplaces. One of their favourite tactics was the use of court injunctions. A steady stream...

On February 18, 1918, two hundred oil refinery workers at Ioco, BC — 30 kilometres east of Vancouver — walked off the job. Provincial constables were immediately dispatched to Ioco for special duty, even though newspapers noted that no disorder...

In this interview, Shan O’Hara describes his experiences in the construction industry as a floor layer and union organizer. He discusses his early life, particularly the tragic death of his father in an industrial accident, which shaped Shan’s outlook on...

John Bowman grew up in the north end of Winnipeg and went to the University of Winnipeg studying labour history and journalism. He became active in progressive issues. John edited the student union newspaper while taking a full course load....

Randy Pearson was born in northern BC to a working-class family. He worked in the lumber mills around Prince George as a young man, before traveling, marrying and getting a unionized job with pension benefits at a BC Liquor Store....

BC’s unionized building trades led a valiant effort in the 1980s to fight off the anti-union Social Credit government. It all came to a head in the run-up to Vancouver’s World’s Fair, Expo 86. The provincial government wanted to open...

Geoff grew up in Toronto and Ottawa and had a comfortable middle class upbringing. He became interested in left wing politics when he attended the University of Toronto, where he worked on the university paper and at the student radio...

Mark Gordienko was born and raised in Victoria, BC, and this is where he began longshoring at age 18. He worked in Victoria at Ogden Point in longshoring for eight years. After getting married, and due to the shortage of...

Peter Cameron was chief shop steward at the Phillips Cables plant in Vancouver, the first plant certified with the Canadian Electrical Workers, which merged with CAIMAW (Canadian Association of Industrial Mechanical and Electrical Workers) in 1969. He served on the...

In the early 20th C, the large, exploited workforce of the smelter at Trail was ripe for organizing. Those efforts were contentious and the politics formidable. Company unions versus legitimate unions, communist union leaders versus anti-communist union leaders, International unions...

A fierce 1938 strike made history when mine workers faced extreme retaliation for organizing with the International Woodworkers of America (IWA). Despite 30 years of wretched working conditions there had never been labour issues at the mine, until an obstinate...

Labour’s May Day (sometimes called International Workers’ Day) on May 1 has been held around the world for over 120 years. In many countries May Day is a statutory holiday that celebrates international solidarity and the long history of labour...

The Industrial Workers of the World, otherwise known as the IWW or the Wobblies, were the most radical labour organization North America has ever seen. They weren’t interested in reforming capitalism. They wanted to wipe it out completely, putting an...

Joe Naylor: miner, socialist, pacifist, and comrade to Ginger Goodwin. In this episode of our On the Line podcast we shine a light on a remarkable yet overlooked figure in BC’s labour history. Less well-known than Goodwin, it was Naylor’s...

Mary LaPlante was introduced to unions when she worked at a fish plant as a summer job. She later worked at the Prince Rupert Hospital where most staff were unionized, but not the administrative staff where she worked. Mary organized...

At 12 o’clock sharp on August 2, 1918, Vancouver transit operators stopped their streetcars in mid-route, drove them to the barns and walked home. The city’s normally bustling waterfront fell silent, as 2,000 burly stevedores and shipyard workers streamed from...

Late in the night on April 13, 1903, labour organizer and longshore worker Frank Rogers was walking home from dinner and stopped by the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks at the foot of Abbott Street in Vancouver, to check on picketers...

Peter Burton was born in Pembroke, Ontario, and worked for the Georgia Straight in Vancouver before going into the resource industry in northern BC. Peter was President of the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers (CASAW) in 1976, when...

This is an audio-only interview with Nick Carr. Nick was born in Croatia (former Yugoslavia) before moving to Canada as a young boy, where he spent his career as a fisherman. He became President of Local 1 of the United...

This is the first of two interviews with Ray Haynes. Ray Haynes was born in Point Grey, Vancouver, BC in 1928. He was introduced to the labour movement through work at a sawmill; his first experience representing workers was at...