Sam Turbitt Interview: Oil Refinery Workers Union
A short-lived union at the IOCO (Imperial Oil Company) oil refinery near Port Moody from 1918-1921, the Oil Refinery Workers affiliated with the OBU (One Big Union). The Union held a two-week strike in 1918 which resulted in large wage increases.
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.
Sam Turbitt was a foreman at the IOCO refinery. Shortly after the strike, Imperial Oil broke the union by creating an “Employee Benefits Plan” that included a company union, free life insurance, sick benefits and a non-contributory pension plan. In 1946, IOCO workers joined the Oil Workers’ International Union.