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Stephen Kelleher recounts the story of his career, from growing up in a non-union family to becoming chair of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board in the 1980s and 2000s. He also discusses his activities since retiring from his position...Video
Deborah Bourque’s extensive involvement in the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), includes serving as its national president from 2002 to 2008. She describes the challenges CUPW faced in negotiating collective agreements and fighting against government legislation that threatened the...Video
The interview covers David Yorke's participation in two pivotal legal challenges, as well as the various labour history projects he has been involved in since his retirement. Two prior interviews by the BC Teachers’ Federation History Project Group cover his...Video
Stephanie Smith was the first elected woman president of the BC General Employees Union (BCGEU) in its over 100-year history, holding the post from from 2014 to 2024. Born in Canada and educated in New Zealand, Stephanie attended teacher’s college...Video
Sucha Singh Deepak was born in 1948 in Punjab, India and immigrated to Canada in 1970, where he worked in lumber mills in Quesnel, B.C. and Fort St. James, B.C. This interview was conducted by Dr. George Davison on Dec...Video
In 1981, teachers in Terrace, British Columbia, went on a six-day strike, at a time when the right to strike had not yet been achieved. Local teacher associations primarily negotiated wages, with unresolved issues going to binding arbitration; working conditions...Video
This 8-minute video tells the story of the one-day strike by Surrey teachers in 1974 that had a profound effect on public education across the province. With less than 24-hours notice, over 1,000 teachers left their classrooms, travelled to the...Video
In 2002, BC’s Liberal provincial government broke its promise to healthcare workers by tearing up their collective agreements, paving the way for widespread contracting-out and privatization in health care. This video is part of our Labour Heritage Moments series.Plaque
This bronze plaque is located inside the CUPE 2950 office at UBC, 6253 NW Marine Dr., Vancouver, BC. It was developed with the support of CUPE 2950 - UBC Support Staff. The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized...Plaque
This bronze plaque is located at the BCGEU Area 11 office at 500 Quebec St., Prince George, BC It was developed with the support of Unifor Local 2301 and the Kitimat, Terrace and District Labour Council. The plaque was cast...Historical materials
On the Level began as a mimeographed publication in 1961, published by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 452 in Vancouver, BC. Visit the On the Level digital archive (external link).Booklet
This booklet explains the reasons for New Westminster teachers' strike in 1921, its impact on students, parents and schools, the outcome and its relevance to the history of bargaining rights for teachers province-wide.Booklet
The "Langley Affair" of 1939-1940 details a significant struggle by Langley teachers, primarily women, to enforce an arbitrated salary award against their school board. This event is a key part of the history of BC teachers' quest for full bargaining...Booklet
In 1981, Terrace public school teachers participated in a six-day strike that significantly contributed to the BC teachers' struggle for full collective bargaining rights, which were not officially achieved until 1987. The strike, considered "illegal" at the time, was prompted...Booklet
The document, "Canada's First Teachers' Strike: Victoria 1919," by Tony F. Arruda, details the historic two-day teachers' strike in Victoria, British Columbia, in February 1919. On Monday, February 10, 1919, 169 teachers from the Victoria and District Teachers' Association (VDTA)...Booklet
In 1974, the Association of University & College Employees (AUCE) Local 1 at the University of British Columbia (UBC) made Canadian history by securing fully funded maternity leave in their first collective agreement.Booklet
This booklet describes the details of a landmark one-day strike by the Surrey Teachers’ Association in 1974. With just 48-hours notice, 1,000 teachers voted to take their dispute with the Surrey School Board to the legislature in Victoria.Booklet
This booklet delves into the 1931 Barnet Millworkers' Strike, offering a detailed account of the labour dispute that unfolded at the Barnet Lumber Company in Burnaby, BC. It examines the working conditions and wage reductions that led 360 workers to...Teaching materials
A short profile on Ethel Johns, an important figure in the history of nursing in British Columbia. See the rest of our Working People Lesson Plans here.Teaching materials
A series of strikes rocked the fishing industry in Steveston, BC in the early 1900s. This story examines the context and the efforts made to unite fishers across racial lines. What were the qualities of the leaders of the Fisher...Teaching materials
In 1939, Connie Jervis, 24 year old President of the Langley Teachers’ Association, led a successful fight for improved system of wages and compulsory arbitration. See the rest of our Working People Lesson Plans here.Teaching materials
This film powerfully links the working lives of Indigenous union activities along Burrard Inlet, while examining the early social justice and collective organizing of Local 526 of the Industrial Workers of the World, the “Bows and Arrows”. Assess the economic...Video
Vince Ready is a legendary labour relations practitioner who has arbitrated and mediated several thousand disputes across Canada in all types of industries. Vince was born in Renfrew Ontario and lived on a farm with his parents and siblings until...Article
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...Article
How a childhood union button collection played a part in an epic Supreme Court of Canada decision. David Yorke began collecting union buttons at the age of 11, when his mother brought home membership pins from her work at the...Video
Roger Stonebanks grew up in a conservative family in England and attended boarding school. He learned the value of organizing when, as a young boy, he organized a boycott to demand better food at school. The boycott failed, but the...Video
Chris Allnutt’s deep desire to fight for people who can’t fight for themselves and make the world a better place led him to work in the labour movement. This interview was conducted by Rod Mickleburgh on May 7, 2024 in...Audio
A 1966 wildcat strike by 400 mostly women members of the Electrical Workers’ union was a turning point in the province, at a time when courts regularly jailed and fined union members during disputes. In this episode of On the...Video
Progressive lawyer Jim Quail first worked for legal aid organizations in BC helping farmworkers and tenants in the late 1970s and 80s. He successfully fought Bill Bennett’s attempt to eliminate tenants’ rights, was a leading participant in the Solidarity Coalition...Video
Sean grew up in Burnaby where he began his political activism early as a paperboy delivering Pacific Tribune newspapers for Harold Pritchett. Sean’s father was the longtime editor of the Pacific Tribune and Sean’s mother was also politically active. Due...Video
David Fairey’s parents were working class immigrants from the U.K. His father was a carpenter and cabinet maker and his mother worked in domestic service, sewing at home, and in furniture and aircraft factories. After he finished high school, David...Audio
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...Video
Jim Sinclair was born and raised in Ontario, where his early work experiences brought him into conflict with employers and demonstrated the need to advocate for workers. He moved to Vancouver and worked there for Co-op Radio and the Union...Video
Ivan Limpright was born and grew up in the Fraser Valley. After working for his father driving truck and front-end loaders, he graduated from high school and started working at the Overwaitea warehouse in Burnaby. This interview was conducted by...Video
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...Video
Anne Harvey was born in a tenement in Manchester, U.K. Her father made patterns out of wood for casting metal parts, and her mother sewed clothes piecework as he built his pattern making business. Anne moved to Canada with her...Video
In this interview, Bonnie Pearson talks about growing up in Saskatchewan and the early influence of her activist parents. Bonnie details her early union involvement as a national representative with CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) in 1980s; the Devine...Video
Andy Ross was born in Newcastle, England. Growing up he was surrounded by unionized workplaces, from coal mines to industrial enterprises. Emigrating to Canada, he became a bus driver in Vancouver and was a member of the bus drivers’ unions,...Video
Denise Kellahan became active in the Union FASWOC (Food and Service Workers of Canada) while she was working at the White Spot restaurant as a single mother with two small children. She helped shepherd the merger of FASWOC (a primarily...Video
Judy Darcy started out as an enthusiastic public speaker and leader in her kindergarten days in Sarnia, Ontario, and has never looked back. Judy was very active in the student movement and in the women’s movement, including being on the...Video
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...Audio
The Canadian Farmworkers’ Union (CFU) was a grassroots champion for BC's Fraser Valley farmworkers, who toiled in dreadful, unregulated conditions in the 1970s and ‘80s. The story of this union is about a social movement as much as an organizing...Video
Carmela Allevato was born in a small town in Southern Italy in 1962. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was 11 years old and settled in Toronto where her parents worked in manufacturing and factory jobs. After graduating high...Video
John Burrows was born in 1954 in Victoria BC. His career started at Victoria Plywood where his interest in unions was quickly ignited. John soon transitioned to the City of Victoria, progressing over the years from a casual role to...Video
Born in Newfoundland, David Gellately made his way to BC in the early 1970s. He became a provincial government employee in northern BC and an activist in his union, the BCGEU. This interview was conducted by Patricia Wejr and Donna...Article
The 1980s kicked off in British Columbia with an inspiring example of workers using new tactics to cope with an aggressively anti-union employer. The BC Telephone Company was US-owned and had put the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) through a difficult...Audio
In one of the earliest victories of its kind, a newly certified independent union negotiated a contract guaranteeing that new mothers would receive a full wage top-up, as well as job and seniority protection. This episode of our On the...Audio
In 1921, 88 public school teachers (most of them young women) initiated a five-day strike to demand recognition of their union and the right to arbitration in salary negotiations. Their unprecedented action was only the second recorded teachers’ strike in...Article
This article is based upon a conversation between Pam Moodie, a volunteer at the BC Labour Heritage Centre, and Aime Antoshchuk. Pam and Aime met at a Burnaby assisted living facility where the 83-year old Antoshchuk lives. We are fortunate...Video
Darryl Walker, of the BC Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU), served as Provincial Vice President (1999 to 2008) and President (2008 to 2014). This interview was conducted by Ken Novakowski On January 21, 2020 in Burnaby, BC. It is...Video
Born in 1932 in a small Saskatchewan town, Sheila Pither came to Vancouver with her mother after the death of her father. Sheila’s husband was a millwright in Vancouver, and she became active in the International Woodworkers of America (IWA)...Video
Ken MacLean was a member of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 505 located in Prince Rupert for 25 years and never missed a union meeting. He held the position of Secretary Treasurer/Dispatcher for 12 years. This interview was...Video
John Radosevic was born in Croatia (former Yugoslavia) before moving to Canada as a young boy. As a teenager he worked on an uncle’s ranch in Alberta and in the dangerous job of tie-up man in seine fishing in BC...Video
Rod Hiebert became President of the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) in 1991. During his time as a union leader he was present for many pivotal issues affecting members, including pension funds, technological change and pay equity. He discusses the union’s...Video
Bernice Kirk began her union career at the Coquitlam School Board, and became the Secretary-Treasurer and President of CUPE BC, as well as a Vice President of the National CUPE Board. This interview was conducted by Ken Novakowski and Blair...Video
Ken Georgetti’s life as an elected union representative spans over 40 years. Beginning as a proud member of Trail, BC’s United Steelworkers Local 480, Brother Georgetti rose through the ranks to become Local Union President, President of the BC Federation...Video
Jackie Ainsworth was born in Ontario, attending a year at the University of Carlton before joining the Anti-War Movement and moving out west to Vancouver. She is a founding member of the Association of University and College Employees (AUCE) as...Video
John Shields was born and raised in New York City by Irish Catholic parents who were both union members. He pursued a life in the Catholic church clergy, but left after disagreement with the direction of the church. He moved...Video
Bill Zander was born at home in the small town of Myrtle, Saskatchewan in 1934, but spent his childhood in Vancouver, BC He started working in a lumber mill after returning from the Royal Canadian Airforce, and became a plant...Video
Sharon Yandle was born in 1941 in Vancouver, BC Raised in the East Side of Vancouver, Sharon spent the majority of her career as a freelance negotiator for various unions across the province, specializing in arbitration and “duty to accommodate”....Video
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...Video
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...
