Canning Salmon, Podcast Ep. 27
Take a deep dive into the historical and contemporary roles of women in BC’s fishing industry. Today, the industry has largely disappeared due to economic shifts, free trade, and declining salmon stocks. In this episode of On the Line, we highlight shoreworkers, two-thirds of whom were women and many of them Indigenous. We hear from Joesphine Charlie, who was interviewed in 1978, and from Jackie Campbell, who we interviewed in 2024 for this podcast. This is the first of a two-part series on women workers in the fishing industry.
Publication date: August 8, 2024
Podcast length: 32:15
Hosted by: Rod Mickleburgh
Research and writing by: Patricia Wejr and Rod Mickleburgh
Production by: John Mabbott
A shoreworker, whose name was unfortunately not recorded, recounts starting in a Skeena River cannery at age ten, mending linen nets and later piling cans for 15 cents an hour with no overtime. She earned about $70 for a season, a significant sum then. Chinese workers were often the primary labor force in canneries, handling tasks like pitching fish, while mechanics and engineers were typically white. Living conditions for Indigenous workers in shacks provided by the canneries were basic, often lacking springs in beds and containing only a stove.
Josephine Charlie, a member of the Squamish Nation, was a notable figure who spoke out against poor working conditions. She worked in canneries while her husband fished. The work was physically demanding, requiring speed and precision. Josephine, being short, even wore spike heels to reach the high trays. The canneries operated on piecework, and there was no machinery for washing or cutting fish heads; everything was done by hand. Women often brought their children, with older kids looking after the younger ones. Wages were low, with washers earning 2 bits an hour. Charlie, a member of the Native Sisterhood of BC, successfully advocated for higher wages at her cannery.
Later, Jackie Campbell, a shoreworker and union activist, became involved with the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. She recalled working in a roe processing job where they learned to prepare salmon roe for the Japanese market. Campbell was instrumental in fighting the industry’s two-tiered wage system, which discriminated against women. This battle involved grievances and legal action, including a lawsuit against the union and a human rights case against the company. Ultimately, the two-tiered system was ended, and women were allowed to work in previously male-dominated roles like cold storage and operating winches.