Refinery walkout in 1918 fueled by western labour militancy

View of Ioco refinery, dock and townsite from the water, November 15, 1916. City of Vancouver Archives PAN N135.

After four years of the Great War in Europe, working-class death tolls were mounting. BC labour unions opposed the conscription of even more workers to fight the “capitalist war”. The stark contrast between the plight of workers and the industrialists who had become wealthy off wartime production fueled labour’s outrage.

The walkout at Ioco was spontaneous; the refinery workers did not belong to a union. However, once the strike was on, a quick visit to the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council brought Business Agent Victor Midgely and two others to Ioco to sign them up in the International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well, and Refinery Workers of America, Local Union 4, the first in Canada. The union affiliated to the Labour Council, and enthusiastically joined the OBU.

In western Canada, labour united to form the “One Big Union” (OBU) in 1918 with a goal to organize industrial workers, irrespective of “nationality, sex or craft.” Oil workers at IOCO “went solidly” for the OBU.

According to striker Sam Turbitt, “We were dissatisfied then because we hadn’t had a raise and all during the War, and then the shipyard workers and all those other fellows was getting more money and we figured that we were entitled. The cost of living was right out of bounds.”

“There was no talk about unions or anything else until after we had left the job,” Turbitt said.The 1918 strike lasted 12 days. In the end, wages were doubled, but the 8-hour day was not achieved.

What happened next was plain union-busting. With the refinery operating again, owner Imperial Oil set about ridding itself of the union. Less than a year after the strike, they announced a scheme to “democratize its business.” At a showy announcement in downtown Vancouver oil company executives introduced a “betterment scheme” and the establishment of “Joint Industrial Committees” at all of its locations.

Board of Trade trip to Ioco Refinery, c. 1927. City of Vancouver Archives CVA 99-1757.1.

Elected worker and company representatives would form the committee to give workers a voice in wages and conditions of work, but the whole thing was chaired by the Employer who had the deciding vote. The scheme established a non-contributory pension plan, free life insurance and sick benefits. A model town of prefabricated housing and social centres would replace bunkhouses.

The plan is “not patronizing philanthropy,” insisted Imperial Oil, but meant to create “harmony and mutual profit.” Labour said it was a scheme to break the union, and it did. By 1921 Local 4 was gone. “Given it was so enticing, the union just fell apart,” said Turbitt.

In 1946, Ioco workers unionized again, joining the Oil Workers’ International Union, which through a series of mergers became a founding member of UNIFOR in 2013.

Sources:

Turbitt, Sam (audio recording, c. 1964), British Columbia Federation of Labour Oral History Project. University of British Columbia Special Collections, Reel 4, Side 1.

“Entire Plant Closed at IOCO.” Vancouver Daily World, February 19, 1918.

“Imperial Oil Men on Strike at IOCO.” British Columbia Federationist, February 22, 1938.

“Democratizes Its Business: Imperial Oil Company Brings Greater Betterment Scheme Into Effect on Behalf of Employees.” Vancouver Daily World, January 9, 1919.

“Pritchard For Mass Meeting.” Vancouver Daily World, September 12, 1919.

Taylor, Graham D. Imperial Standard: Imperial Oil, Exxon, and the Canadian Oil Industry from 1880. 1st ed., University of Calgary Press, 2019.