Dave Pritchett
Interviewed by Sean Griffin, Dan Keeton and Bailey Garden
BC Labour Heritage Centre
Interviewed by Sean Griffin, Dan Keeton and Bailey Garden
Dave Pritchett served on the ILWU 500 executive for about 25 years. He is the grandson of IWA founder, Harold Pritchett and son of Craig Pritchett, the first president of the Canadian region of the ILWU. As a young boy, Dave learned about Cold War labour issues in the company of the labour leaders and activists of the time during their visits to his grandfather’s home, his home, and travelling around BC with his father. He was an IWA member when he worked in logging as a young man. A proponent of rank-and-file unionism, Dave’s activism in ILWU began in the late seventies. In this interview, Dave talks about many of the union issues he was involved in during his time with ILWU, locally and internationally. He is also a poet and a labour music and art enthusiast.
Keywords: Harold Prichett; Craig Pritchett; Harry Bridges; Hal Banks; Ken Bauder; Tom Dufresne; IWA; longshore; ILWU Canada; ILWU 500; health and safety; asbestos; grain dust; Maritime Labour Centre; rank and file unionism; international unionism; labour participation in the community; Operation Solidarity; mechanization; technological change; union dispatch hall; Cold War labour issues; labour music; labour poets