Audio
Harry Haywood Woodside’s (1890-1973) first work experience was in building the Lake Buntzen diversion tunnel at Coquitlam in 1909. His next job was a miner at Britannia Mine, where he joined the Western Federation of Miners. While at Britannia Mine...Audio
William Arthur (Bill) Pritchard (1888-1981) was a major figure in BC labour and politics. Born in England, Pritchard came to BC at the age of 23. He edited and wrote for The Western Clarion and was active in the Socialist...Historical materials
Originally started in 1907 by the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council as the Western Wage Earner, the British Columbia Federationist was a weekly labor newspaper published in Vancouver, BC. Visit the British Columbia Federationist digital archive (external link).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...Article
Under close police surveillance, the 1936 Vancouver May Day parade announcer mocked passing effigies of local white nationalist Tom MacInnes and Mayor Gerry McGeer. “Volunteers to throw Tom and Gerry into the bay?” the announcer taunted the crowd in his...Article
Throughout his 50 years in Prince Rupert, BC George Casey (1876-1962) was a steadfast representative of the working class and its union organizations. Casey headed to the United States as a young man where he spent time as a “hobo”,...Article
When the Winnipeg General Strike began on May 15, 1919 unions across Canada soon followed Winnipeg’s lead. In British Columbia, the heroic Vancouver sympathy strike and Victoria’s four-day stoppage are often cited as examples, yet lesser known strikes occurred in...
