Elroy Robson Interview: CBRT Organizer & Officer
Elroy Robson (1897-1986) was a labour organizer for the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers who also held senior offices in other central labour bodies becoming the first President of the Ontario Federation of Labour in 1944. He discusses his 47-year-long career from 1917 onward.
The interview was conducted in the 1960s by the BC Federation of Labour in anticipation of the publication of No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in BC (1967). Interviewers were author Paul Phillips and UBC student Bill Piket. The original tapes were digitized by the BC Labour Heritage Centre in 2024.
Elroy Robson, 1955
Recorded in 1964, Robson discusses organizing struggles, conflicts with the American Federation of Labor, the development of industrial unions, the Great Depression, and various political organizations affiliated with the labor movement in the early 20th century. Robson was present at the Vancouver Labor Temple in 1918 when soldiers stormed the building, forcing him and other union officials onto the exterior ledge of the building to protect their lives.