Jack Hanson Interview: Rossland Miners Union
Jack Hanson provides a detailed account of the early history of the Rossland Miners Union (Western Federation of Miners, Local 38) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hanson arrived in Rossland in 1899, one year after the union had been formed.
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.
Hanson discusses the formation of the union in 1898, the eight-hour day campaign, the 1901 strike, the role of key figures like Frank Woodside, and the political involvement of the union in supporting candidates like ‘Fighting Joe’ Martin. The interview highlights the union’s struggles against the mining companies, the violence and intimidation faced by union members, and the gradual spread of socialist ideas among the miners.