Ending ‘Shape-Up’ Hiring on BC’s Waterfront
Published: July 3, 2018
Authors: BC Labour Heritage Centre & David Yorke
The International Longshore Association disappeared from the waterfront in BC following their 1923 strike. The union was broken by employers in the Shipping Federation of BC, and a company union was put in place. Favouritism in hiring was rampant. As the economy worsened in the 1930s new militant longshore unions were formed and a key issue for longshore workers was ending company control over hiring.

Men begging for jobs, San Francisco waterfront. Hansel Meith. International Center of Photography.
David Yorke recounts the story of the hated “shape-up tags” used before seniority-based hiring was won.

Brass tag, Shipping Federation of BC. Courtesy David Yorke Labour History Collection.