B.C.’s Worst Aviation Disaster Kills 23 Workers
The plaque reads: After dark on 17 October 1951, in fog and driving rain, all 23 people on board a converted RCAF Canso A bomber were killed when it smashed into the north face of Mount Benson (te'tuxwtun), eight kilometres west of Nanaimo. In addition to the flight crew, the aircraft was carrying contruction works from the Aluminum Company of Canada (ALCAN) hydro dam and smelter project in Kitimat to their homes in and near Vancouver. Remains and personal effects, including union membership applications, were scattered around the wreckage. The remains of 12 victims are interred in a mass grave on this spot. At the time, it was the worst aviation disaster in B.C. history and the second worst in Canadian history.
Grant’s Law
The plaque reads: In 2005, 24-year-old Grant De Patie was working alone at a gas station when he was killed following his employer’s instructions to collect a license plate number during a gas and dash incident. His death shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of late-night workers, working alone. In 2008, efforts by the De Patie family and the BC Federation of Labour resulted in the creation of Grant’s Law, a BC Occupational Health and Safety Regulation that better protected late-night workers. It was the first of its kind in Canada. Grant De Patie’s story continues to inspire young workers to take up the fight for better workplace safety. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2018 Union Made BCFED
Great Northern Railway Disaster, 1909
The plaque reads: In the early hours of November 29, 1909, a Great Northern train transporting 43 railway labourers to carry out track repairs plunged into this ravine (Lost Creek). Twenty three men, mostly of Japanese descent, were killed in the crash, illuminating the dangerous conditions faced by early railway workers. Unlike the crew members, the Japanese workers had been crowded into a boxcar and could not jump to safety. Rescue efforts were hampered by darkness, the steep banks of the ravine and the torrent of water from Lost Creek. A coroner’s inquest revealed that the accident was caused by the storm and unsafe track design, and recommended that a night track-walker be employed during severe rainstorms. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made City of Burnaby Community Heritage Commission
The Great Coal Strike 1912–14
The plaque reads: After decades of attempts to organize unions in Vancouver Island’s murderously unsafe coal mines, thousands of miners from Ladysmith to Cumberland went on strike in 1912 under the banner of the United Mine Workers of America. The strike was the fiercest labour dispute in BC’s history. Parades, a riot and mass meetings garnered support for the miners from local communities and around North America. Strikebreakers, special constables, the militia and arrests pummeled the workers. By 1914, the odds were insurmountable, and strikers were forced to return to work amidst a relentless blacklist. Their two-year strike laid the foundation for later generations as Vancouver Island miners finally won union recognition in 1938. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2020 Union Made Nanaimo, Duncan & District Labour Council
ON TO OTTAWA TREK, 1935
The plaque reads: From this place, over 1,000 young unemployed men climbed atop boxcars June 3, 1935 to take their plea for “work and wages” to Ottawa. Few expected the Trek to survive the trip through the mountains, but it gained momentum and support as it rolled east across the prairies. The RCMP, acting on federal orders, stopped the Trek in Regina and later provoked a riot when armed mounties attempted to arrest the Trek leaders at a peaceful Dominion Day rally. A defining event of the Great Depression years, the Trek endures as a symbol of the quest for social justice. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2020 Union Made
Operation Solidarity: Workers Take Over Facility for a Better Future
The plaque reads: A dramatic 22-day occupation of the Tranquille Institution began July 19, 1983. It was the first major event during Operation Solidarity. The government planned to close the institution and fire 600 union members without cause. In response, the workers expelled managers and ran the facility themselves to continue to care for the 325 residents with significant physical and developmental disabilities who faced an uncertain future. The occupation ended when the workers’ demands were met with an agreement for their participation on a team to plan for the residents’ future needs. The threat to fire the workers was retracted in collective bargaining a few months later. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2020 Union Made BCGEU
Darshan Singh Sangha
The plaque reads: “One of the greatest achievements of the I.W.A. was the uniting of all woodworkers...irrespective of race and colour.” Darshan Singh Sangha worked for the International Woodworkers of America (I.W.A) from 1941 to 1947 as a union organizer. His job was to sign up South Asian lumber workers into the I.W.A. throughout western Canada. His militant voice and unwavering determination were highly effective. South Asian workers joined and became vital to the union’s strength. Employers were forced to abolish discriminatory race-based pay, to meet and negotiate with the union, and to treat workers with dignity. Sangha also convinced the union to speak out on issues important to the South Asian community, including independence for India and the right to vote in Canada. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2023 Union Made Hari Sharma Foundation
New Westminster teachers win fight for fair pay, bargaining rights
The plaque reads: In 1921, New Westminster teachers became embroiled in a dispute with their school board over low salaries. George Ford, President of the New Westminster Teachers’ Association, urged that the dispute be resolved through arbitration, but trustees refused and threatened to fire the teachers instead. On February 14, 1921, the teachers went on strike for five days to back their demand for a fair salary. Concerned citizens rallied behind them and put enough pressure on the trustees to get them to the negotiating table, and ultimately into arbitration. In the 1922 municipal elections, the school board went down to defeat. Soon after, the new board paid teachers the arbitrated award and agreed to recognize the NWTA as the teachers’ legitimate bargaining agent. This early action by New Westminster teachers was an important step for all BC teachers in their long struggle for full bargaining rights. BC Labour Heritage Centre British Columbia Teachers' Federation 2017 Union Made
Langley teachers versus Langley schoolboard
The plaque reads: In 1939-40, a feisty group of Langley teachers, mostly women, stood up to threats, firings, forced transfers, and public ridicule from their employer for insisting on their right to be paid their legally arbitrated salaries. Local president Connie Jervis and her colleagues remained united and strong, despite these acts of intimidation. The Langley School Board had consistently defied the new law requiring compulsory arbitration to resolve salary disputes, even when ordered to pay by the courts. Eventually, the provincial government fined the school board and paid the teachers their arbitrated salaries. Compulsory arbitration rulings for teachers were never again challenged in BC. Langley teachers had won an important victory for all their colleagues across BC. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made Langley Teachers’ Association
BCTF 100 Celebrating a century
The plaque reads: On February 14, 1974, about 1,000 Surrey teachers crowded into the auditorium at Queen Elizabeth Secondary School to discuss the severe funding shortages in their rapidly-growing district. Outrage was so high that teachers voted almost unanimously to walk off the job the very next day and take their protest to Victoria. Led by their local president, Lloyd Edwards, they rallied on the lawns of the BC legislature calling for increased funding for public education. The results of their courageous protest were dramatic. The BC Teachers’ Federation and government reached an agreement that, over three years, resulted in 4,000 new teaching positions and reduced class sizes across BC. This was an important step towards full collective bargaining rights for all BC teachers. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made Surrey Teachers’ AssociationBCTF 100 Celebrating a century
Terrace Teachers Ahead of the Times on Bargaining Rights
The plaque reads: A full six years before BC teachers won the legal right to strike, Terrace teachers walked the picket lines for six days in 1981. Their strike was triggered by the forced transfer and demotion of two popular school principals, then members of the Terrace District Teachers’ Association. Led by their Local President Wayne Wyatt, teachers first staged a one-day walkout on May 6, to protest the Board’s arbitrary treatment of their members. Then, after setting clear objectives to get contractual guarantees of reasonable personnel practices, the teachers went out from June 12–19, 1981. Their strike ultimately won them a personnel practices agreement that helped bolster the BC Teachers’ Federation’s ongoing campaign for full bargaining rights. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made Terrace District Teachers’ Union
Blair Rifle Range: 1927 ~ 1968
The plaque reads: In 1934, fearful of growing numbers of homeless men congregating in Vancouver, the federal government established the Blair Rifle Range Unemployed Relief Camp. Homeless men were moved to the Rifle Range and put to work expanding the site. In the spring of 1935 many stormed out and joined hundreds of others from across the country in a plea for “work and wages” that became the On-to-Ottawa Trek. Their actions hastened the creation of unemployment insurance in Canada. In later years thousands of soldiers trained here in preparation for overseas service in World War II. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made Deep Cove Heritage Society
Remember September 3, 1935
The plaque reads: During a dock strike, police arrested 21 longshoremen picketing Pacific Coast Terminals. ILWU Local 502 still works the Fraser River. Canadian Nautical Research Society La société canadienne pour la recherche nautique
Local 15 CUPE, 1918–2018 and Onwards
The plaque reads: This Centennial plaque is dedicated to the thousands of workers that came before us and will work on after us. We honor their commitment to the labour and social justice movements. CUPE Local 15’s legacy goes on as they continue to make significant gains for their members and citizens. With over 7,000 proud members working each day we will continue to defend public services in the municipal, recreation, health care, technical, cultural, arts, and public education sectors. Vancouver City Hall Employees’ Association was founded in 1918 and joined the Policemen’s Union, Firefighters, and outside workers to form the Civic Federation which joined with the municipal workers in 1920. In 1970, the Association joined the VMREU (Vancouver Municipal & Regional Employees’ Union). In June 1995 the VMREU merged with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and took the Local number “15” that had been reserved for over 30 years. CUPE Local 15 – the Vancouver Municipal, Education & Community Workers’ Union and membership acknowledge that we live, work, and play on the traditional unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2018 Union Made
Barnet Lumber Company Mill Workers Strike 1931
The plaque reads: In September 1931, some 360 workers at Barnet Lumber Co., led by the Lumber Workers Industrial Union, went on strike to protest wage reductions. Four cuts in the previous two months, the last being 20 per cent, drove wages as low as 19 cents an hour. The action was sparked by a larger strike at Fraser Mills in Coquitlam, another instance of workers’ resistance to the stark conditions of the depression years. In response to the walkout, the mill’s U.S. owners locked the workers out and shut down operations. Picketing continued for several weeks amidst intervention by Provincial Police and infantry, but Barnet Lumber never re-opened and eventually fell into tax default. Formerly known as the North Pacific Lumber Company, the sawmill was originally one of the largest lumber producers in the British Empire, employing Japanese, Chinese and East Indian labourers. Many of the men affected by the 1931 lockout remained unemployed until World War II. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made City of Burnaby Community Heritage Commission
UBC Clerical and Library Workers Lead the Way for Maternity Benefits
The plaque reads: In 1974, years before other Canadian unions won maternity leave benefits in collective agreements, the Association of University & College Employees (AUCE) Local 1 at UBC made history. In their first collective agreement UBC clerical and library workers achieved contract language that provided fully funded maternity leave for their members. It was a breakthrough not just for workers at UBC but for families across the country. AUCE Local 1, with feminist and socialist roots, joined the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1985 and is now known as CUPE 2950. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2018 Union Made CUPE 2950
The Chinese Farmers of “Celery City”
The plaque reads: Armstrong’s early agricultural success owes much to the hard working Chinese immigrants who cultivated the city’s fertile bottomlands. As many as 500 Chinese labourers lived in huts in the fields and bunkhouses in Chinatown in the winter. They grew crops that included celery, cabbage, lettuce and potatoes which were shipped across Canada. Life for Chinese farmers was challenging. They faced restrictive immigration laws, a prohibitive head tax and were later barred from entering the country. They could not own land and endured much racial animosity. Despite these obstacles, Chinese workers were an integral part of Armstrong’s history and helped it become what was once the “Celery Capital of Canada”. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016 Union Made City of Armstrong
Coal Creek Mine Disaster 1917
The plaque reads: On April 5, 1917, an explosion in the No. 3 Mine took the lives of 34 men. The mines at Coal Creek generated far more gas than did even the most dangerous of mines elsewhere. Fatalities there were frequent, as were disagreements over safety measures between the miners’ union and officials of the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company. The local union demanded a safer system of shift change, which was won following a bitter but successful strike in 1918. At Coal Creek, there was never again loss of life comparable to that claimed by the disaster of 1917. BC Labour Heritage Centre East Kootenay District Labour Council United Steelworkers Local 9346 2017 Union Made
Logging Industry Workers’ Memorial
The plaque reads: In memory of those who have lost their lives as a result of their work in the forest industry. Forever free in the forest they share. Never forgotten. In gratitude to those who have fought to improve safety conditions for these workers. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016
CASAW Wildcat Strike
The plaque reads: On June 3, 1976, members of the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers Union stormed off the job at Alcan in Kitimat. Their wildcat strike was a protest against the federal government’s wage controls program, which restricted collective bargaining and rolled back workers’ negotiated wage contracts. A raid on the picket line by police in full riot gear led to arrests of union leaders and the threat of fines and legal action. The 18-day walkout was a galvanizing event in labour’s campaign against the program, which culminated in the Day of Protest against Wage Controls on October 14, 1976, when one million workers walked out across the country. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016 Union Made Kitimat, Terrace & District Labour Council and UNIFOR 2301
Let Us Move Forward United!
The plaque reads: At their October 1969 convention in Prince George, delegates from the BC Government Employees’ Association voted to replace “Association” in their name with “Union”. Thus the BCGEU was created. Calling themselves a union was a significant step on the path to win collective bargaining rights for provincial government employees. Less than five years later, the BC Labour Relations Board recognized the BCGEU as the representative of provincial employees, and members began negotiating their first collective agreement. Across the province, BCGEU members continue to fight for fairness, dignity and respect for all workers in British Columbia. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016 Union Made BCGEU
BCTF100, Celebrating a Century
The plaque reads: On January 4, 1917, the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation was founded on this site, formerly King Edward High School. Mr. J. George Lister was elected the first BCTF President, and the objectives adopted at the founding meeting continue to guide the Federation a century later: To foster and promote the cause of education To raise the status of the teaching profession in BC To promote the welfare of the teachers of BC Today, the BCTF is a strong social justice union that articulates the professional concerns of teachers, asserts their rights as workers and advocates for the needs of students within a high-quality public education system. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016 Union Made British Columbia Teachers’ Federation
Landmark Victoria Teacher Strike Makes History
The plaque reads: On February 10 and 11, 1919, Victoria teachers made history by going on strike to protest low wages. This was the first teacher strike in Canada. Even though the Victoria School Board requested that the Provincial Department of Education take action against the 169 teachers, department officials refused. They also helped to reach a settlement between the Board and teachers, who won significant wage increases. In addition, the School Act was amended to provide for a voluntary arbitration process for settling salary disputes. This action by the Victoria Teachers’ Association was an important first step for BC teachers on the long road to full collective bargaining rights. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2017 Union Made GVTA
Charles Howard Webb 1896 – 1977
The plaque reads: Charles Howard Webb 1896 – 1977 Howard Webb was a key figure in establishing the union movement in the Northern Interior. He worked tirelessly to build his own union and organized labour into a social and political force in Prince George. A charter member of the International Woodworkers of America, Local 1-424 in 1945, Webb served on the union executive for over 20 years. He strengthened the voice of workers by founding the Prince George and District Labour Council in 1955. Webb was elected in 1956 as the first labour sponsored member of Prince George City Council. He retired from the IWA in 1967 and continued to serve on the Labour Council until his death. BC Labour Heritage Centre 2016 Union Made United Steelworkers (IWA) Local 1-424