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The interview covers Larry Kuehn's extensive involvement with labour and social justice organizations beyond his work with the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF). His time as president of the BCTF is covered in an earlier interview, available in our BCTF Past...Video
In this interview conducted by Sean Griffin, Vi (Violet) Cordoni describes her history of singing for her community. Vi was born in 1938 in Drumheller, Alberta to Hungarian-Canadian parents. She describes her Hungarian family’s experience of immigrating and then having...Video
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...Teaching materials
This unit was developed for BC’s Social Justice 12 course by the Labour History Project, a partnership between the Labour Heritage Centre and the BC Teachers’ Federation with additional support from the BC Federation of Labour and the SFU Labour...Historical materials
The Hanne Jensen fonds is a collection of records collected between 1983 and 1984, when she played a central role in the Operation Solidarity movement in BC as a defender of human rights. Access to this collection requires Hanne Jensen's...Historical materials
The British Columbia Labor News was the official organ of the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council (VTLC) and its affiliated unions in 1921 and 1922. The masthead established itself as being "Devoted to the interests of the international labor movement.”...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.Teaching materials
In 1983, Operation Solidarity and the Solidarity Coalition came together in response to a series of proposed bills by the Social Credit government to stage the largest protest in the province’s history. See the rest of our Working People Lesson...Article
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...Video
Lorna Waghorn-Kidd was born in Prince Rupert but grew up in various towns throughout northern British Columbia. She moved to Prince George in 1976 where she got a job as a typist at an employment insurance office, then with the...Video
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,...Article
As early as 1989 the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) had successfully negotiated medical benefits for same-sex partners into collective agreements. Without legal protection, however, recognition of these relationships was up to each employer or benefits provider. A 1991 legal victory...Video
Bill Routley was born in 1948 in Chatham, Ontario. He was the son of two ministers who raised him in Duncan, on Vancouver Island. The treatment of employees at a shoe repair business in Victoria kindled his interest in workers’...Video
Tom Dufresne was born and grew up in Montreal. When he was about 15, he started working in a variety of jobs in Montreal including at lawn chair and ladder factories, delivering pop, and roofing. In 1969, he headed to...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
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
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...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
Marion Pollack and Micki McCune both started working for Canada Post as mail sorters in the 1970s. While both were initially impressed with the union wages they were earning, they soon became union activists, given the working conditions at Canada...Audio
The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike is widely commemorated as a landmark moment in Canadian labour history. In Vancouver, 10,000 workers joined a sympathy strike, staying off the job for nearly a month. In this episode of the On the Line...Video
Barry O’Neill’s unionism began on Vancouver Island where he worked for several school districts and was rooted in workplace health and safety. He went on to hold elected positions in CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) locally, provincially and nationally....Video
On November 24, 2022, Rod Mickleburgh and the BC Labour Heritage Centre introduced Ray Haynes to the 60th BC Federation of Labour Convention in Vancouver BC. It was an emotional moment that traced Ray Haynes' leadership in the labour movement for...Video
Wayne Peppard grew up in Castlegar, BC, working for a short time at the Cominco smelter in Trail. His introduction to the labour movement was with the United Association of Journeymen & Apprentices of the Plumbing & PipeFitting Industry of...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...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...Article
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...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
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
Diane Wood spent many years as a union activist starting in Duncan where she organized the School District clerical workers and led her first strike. She then moved to northeast BC where she began her activism in the BCGEU. This...Article
On February 1, 1975 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), at CKLG-AM Radio (known as “LG73”) in Vancouver went on strike for a first contract. The disc jockeys and news staff walked out, locked the doors and...Video
Ken Isomura began working in the forest industry at 17. He credits growing up, living and working in Revelstoke with his later involvement in unions and community organizations because it gave him a sense of community. After relocating to the...Video
An East Van boy, Ken Bauder initially worked in construction before ending up in longshoring. He was Secretary Treasurer of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada from 2004-2010. He was instrumental in a project called (Re)claiming the New Westminster...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
Kate Braid is a carpenter and a poet, writing about her experiences as a female working in the male-dominated construction trades. She was born in Calgary, AB and was elected to the executive of the BC Regional Council of Carpenters....Video
Arnie Nagy has Haida heritage on the maternal side of his family, and grew up in Prince Rupert. He worked in the fish canneries and was an active UFAWU member. He recalls the years when the fishing industry was booming...Video
Jef Keighley was born in Vancouver, BC in 1950. He spent time working in Jamaica through the Canadian University Service Overseas. He worked in the automotive and construction industries before becoming involved in the Canadian Association of Industrial, Mechanical and...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...
