Farming

BC at Work, Episode 2, was first broadcast on September 11, 1988. It was produced by Michael Morgan and Associates and Shane Lunny Productions for the BC Federation of Labour as a public affairs television program comprising 13 episodes. Twelve...

For over 100 years, the hard-working women in the fruit packing plants became known as the “Apple Box Belles”. While much has been written about Okanagan fruit-growing, the early union history has barely been mentioned.

Dire working conditions and unfair treatment fueled a movement to advocate for BC farmworkers’ rights in the 1970s, soon becoming the Canadian Farmworkers Union, a first in Canada.

A tribute to Sarbjit Sidhu, Amarjeet Kaur Bal, and Sukhwinder Kaur Punia, who tragically died in a van accident on March 7, 2007. The crash, which occurred on the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia, involved a van carrying 17 farmworkers.

This bronze plaque is located inside the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum, 3415 Pleasant Valley Rd., Armstrong, BC. It was developed with the support of the City of Armstrong. The plaque was cast at Ornamental Bronze, a unionized foundry in Richmond which...

The Canadian Farmer-Labor Advocate was published weekly in Vancouver, BC between 1925 and 1926. It began publishing after the British Columbia Federationist folded. Farmer-labour movements were growing and challenging the existing economic and social order. Visit the Canadian Farmer-Labor Advocate...

This film examines the working lives of “Canada’s Forgotten Workers,” the farmworkers whose labour fell outside much of the protective labour legislation. Provides an overview of their living and working conditions in the 1970s and invites students to compare with...

BC labour led a four-year boycott of non-union American grapes between 1966 and 1970. The United Farm Workers’ (UFW) strike began in 1965 near Delano, California but soon spread. The strike became a struggle for justice and human rights that...

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...

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...

In this wide-ranging and interesting interview, Blair Redlin asks Judy Cavanaugh to describe the experience and identify the important outcomes and lessons learned through the many working experiences in her life. This interview was conducted by Blair Redlin on May...

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...

We are exploring the history of Chinese-Canadian market gardeners in Armstrong, BC, a community once known as “The Celery Capital of Canada.” Moving beyond traditional union stories, this episode of our On the Line podcast highlights the vital contributions of...

Mae Burrows details her early life and influences, and then her work with the Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) which brought together trade unionists and environmentalists at a time when logging companies were instigating the “war in the woods.” This...