Video
This rare interview with Lew Perry was featured in BC at Work, a public affairs television program produced in 1988 by the BC Federation of Labour. Perry designed a replica rocket that won grand prize in the 1936 “Parade of...Audio
This interview with Ernest Leslie (Les) Walker (1899-1974) details the history of the Mine-Mill union in Trail, British Columbia, its struggles against the anti-labour environment and the attempts by the Steelworkers union to take over its jurisdiction. It describes how...Historical materials
The BC Workers’ News was published by the Communist Party beginning in 1935. It changed its title several times in ensuing years. This collection includes issues since its inception until 1946. Visit the BC Workers' News digital archive.Historical materials
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada has been successfully representing working people in British Columbia since 1948.Audio
Harry Haywood Woodside’s (1890-1973) first work experience was in building the Lake Buntzen diversion tunnel at Coquitlam in 1909. His next job was a miner at Britannia Mine, where he joined the Western Federation of Miners. While at Britannia Mine...Audio
Jack Henderson (1880-1968) was a labour activist and community leader in Vancouver, Canada. Henderson discusses his long involvement in the labour movement, starting when he joined the Amalgamated Society of Railroad Servants in England in 1896. He describes his experiences...Audio
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...Audio
John David (Jack) Harrington (1879 – 1970), recounts his long history with the labour and socialist movements in North America, starting with his arrival in Canada around 1904. The interview was conducted in the 1960s by the BC Federation of...Audio
William Arthur (Bill) Pritchard (1888-1981) was a major figure in BC labour and politics. Born in England, Pritchard came to BC at the age of 23. He edited and wrote for The Western Clarion and was active in the Socialist...Historical materials
These two key newspapers were published in the United States, and were widely read in British Columbia where the IWW had a presence in organizing in several key industries. Visit the Industrial Union Bulletin & Industrial Worker digital archive (external...Historical materials
The Industrial World newspaper was published in Rossland, BC from 1899 to 1901. It was the weekly predecessor to The Rossland Evening World. Visit The Industrial World digital archive (external link).Historical materials
Founder and leader of the Socialist Party of Canada, E.T. Kingsley edited the Labor Star in Vancouver in 1919. Richard Parmeter Pettipiece was the newspaper’s manager. Its offices were in the Dominion Building in Vancouver BC. Visit the Labor Star...Historical materials
The Labor Statesman was a significant newspaper dedicated to labor unity and a higher standard of living for workers. Affordable at just five cents per copy or a dollar for a 20-week subscription, the newspaper aimed to reach a broad...Historical materials
The Lardeau Eagle was founded in 1900 by Parm Pettipiece in Ferguson, BC. Pettipiece was one of the founders of Socialist Party of Canada and frequently published his views in the newspaper, including his support for women’s enfranchisement. Visit the...Historical materials
On the Level began as a mimeographed publication in 1961, published by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 452 in Vancouver, BC. Visit the On the Level digital archive (external link).Historical materials
The Pacific Tribune, was a consistent source of reporting and analysis of labour movements and people's struggles in British Columbia. Originally established by the Communist Party of Canada as the BC Workers’ News in 1935, the newspaper began publishing under...Historical materials
Project News was a publication of the Relief Project Workers' Union (RPWU) The RPWU was successor to the Relief Camp Workers' Union, a creation of the Workers' Unity League which had led the 1935 strike that culminated in the On-to-Ottawa...Historical materials
The Red Flag was launched by the Socialist Party of Canada (SPC) in 1918 when The Western Clarion was banned by the government. The ban was lifted in 1920. Visit The Red Flag digital archive (external link).Historical materials
The Rossland Evening World was a four-page daily newspaper established on May Day 1901 in Rossland, BC, dedicated to supporting mine workers in the Kootenays. It was one of Western Canada's first daily labor newspapers, owned by Local 38 of...Historical materials
The Fisherman bi-weekly newspaper documents shore workers and other labourers working in the fishing industry. Canneries, Indigenous peoples, commercial fishing activities, equipment, and processes, union and alliance meetings and demonstrations, protests, and other aspects of the fishing industry in British...Historical materials
The Hospital Employees' Union's newsletter was launched as a mimeographed publication in 1950 and then reborn as the Hospital Guardian in 1958. The name was chosen after the Manchester Guardian in the United Kingdom. Visit The Guardian digital archive (external...Historical materials
The Waterfront Worker was a newsletter published by an anonymous group of rank and file longshoremen from 1932-1936 which galvanized support for the new militant unionism on the waterfront.Historical materials
The Western Clarion was a pivotal publication in Canadian labour and socialist history. From 1903 to its final issue in 1925, it served as the official organ of the Socialist Party of Canada, offering a unique window into the revolutionary...Historical materials
This item is a single issue of Federation News and Views dated December 12, 1952, Vancouver, BC, a publication of the Federation of Telephone Workers (FTW), a significant labour union in British Columbia, originally chartered in 1944.Historical materials
Solidarity Times published nine editions between October and December 1983 during the Solidarity movement in British Columbia. The newspaper was financed by Operation Solidarity and the BC Teachers’ Federation. It also published paid advertisements from a variety of unions and...Historical materials
BC District Union News was published by the BC, Yukon and Northwest Territories locals of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. The union was often referred to as "Mine Mill." Visit the District News digital archive (external...Historical materials
The Lumber Worker collection comprises digitized newspapers from 1938-2006, published by the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), the most prominent forestry union in Western Canada. Visit The Lumber Worker digital archive (external link).Historical materials
The BC Teachers' Federation has produced a regular publication each school year since 1919 to highlight news, events and stories relevant to BC teachers and their profession. The title and format of the newspaper has changed over time. Visit the...Historical materials
The BC Trades Unionist was a newspaper published by the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council (VTLC) in 1908 and 1909. It served as an important voice for the organized labor movement in Vancouver during a period of significant activity. Visit...Historical materials
Originally started in 1907 by the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council as the Western Wage Earner, the British Columbia Federationist was a weekly labor newspaper published in Vancouver, BC. Visit the British Columbia Federationist digital archive (external link).Historical materials
The British Columbia Labor News was the official organ of the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council (VTLC) and its affiliated unions in 1921 and 1922. The masthead established itself as being "Devoted to the interests of the international labor movement.”...Historical materials
The Canadian Farmer-Labor Advocate was published weekly in Vancouver, BC between 1925 and 1926. It began publishing after the British Columbia Federationist folded. Farmer-labour movements were growing and challenging the existing economic and social order. Visit the Canadian Farmer-Labor Advocate...Historical materials
The Commentator was the official organ of the Trail and District Smelter Workers, Local 480 International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Union (IUMM&SWU). The newspaper was published in Trail, BC between November 1938 and December 1954. Visit The Commentator...Historical materials
District 18 organized and negotiated collective agreements in the coalfields of BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan and had a membership of 6,000. The District Ledger, the newspaper of United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) District 18 was founded by Frank Sherman,...Historical materials
The Dispatcher has been the essential lifeline for members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) since 1942. It is the trusted source for ILWU news, information, and a unified voice during a pivotal time for the ILWU.Historical materials
The Voice of the Federation was the newspaper for the Maritime Federation of the Pacific, a consortium of unions that formed in the wake of the 1934 Pacific Coast waterfront and maritime strikes. The paper briefly served as the official...Audio
This recording contains a 1964 interview with Hachiro Miyazawa and his son Joe Miyazawa about the Camp and Mill Workers Union which Hachiro helped to organize in the 1920s to represent Japanese lumber mill workers in British Columbia. The interview...Audio
This is a joint interview with Charles McGregor Stewart (1891-1968) and Peter Campbell Munro (1887-1971), who were active in the Street Railwaymen’s Union in Vancouver, British Columbia in the early decades of the 20th century. They discuss the impact of...Audio
H.R. (Harry) Neelands (1881-1974) was born in Ontario and came to BC as a child. He apprenticed as a printer in Victoria and moved to Vancouver in 1905 to work at the Daily Province. He was Secretary of the International...Audio
Christopher Pritchard (1894-1973) joined the Plumbers’ Union (United Association of Journeymen Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters’ Helpers of the United States and Canada) in 1918 in Winnipeg. He moved to British Columbia in 1925. This interview provides...Audio
Allan Coleman (1907-1974) was Secretary of the Journeymen Barbers’ International Union, Local 120 in Vancouver. In this 8-minute interview interview he covers the union’s origins including its unique structure that included both journeymen and barber shop owners in its membership....Audio
Horace Mackey (1880-1970) was Legislative Chairman and later Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in the BC District. He began working on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1899, retiring in 1948. He was a member of the Regional War...Audio
Dan Radford (1902-1977) was a Nanaimo coal miner who held held many union positions, including President of the BC. Federation of Labour, director of the Canadian Congress of Labor, and the Canadian Labour Congress. The interview was conducted in the...Audio
Barney McGuire (1916-1995) was a hardrock miner, born and raised in Alice Arm, BC In 1933 he began working in mines throughout BC, the Yukon, Northwest Territories and later in eastern Canada after being blacklisted for his union activity. In...Audio
Charles Grant MacNeil (1890-1976) was a veteran of the First World War. Upon his return to Canada, MacNeil became secretary of the Great War Veterans Association and advocated for other returning soldiers. He was elected in 1935 as Member of...Audio
Arthur J. Turner (1888-1983) was a socialist and trade unionist who came to Canada from England in 1913. He was a member of the International Association of Machinists at the shipyards in Victoria, before relocating to Vancouver. He joined the...Audio
Percy Trerise (1886-1965) was born in Cornwall, England and arrived in Canada around 1908. He initially worked as a granite cutter. He describes a jurisdictional dispute between granite cutters and stone cutters as the industry adopted pneumatic drills. The dispute...Audio
Elroy Robson (1897-1986) was a labour organizer for the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers (CBRT) who held senior offices in other central labour bodies becoming the first President of the Ontario Federation of Labour in 1944. He...Audio
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...
