Sam Turbitt – Oil Refinery Workers, Local 4

Download (.mp3)

Download transcript.

A short-lived union at the IOCO oil refinery near Port Moody from 1918-1921, the Oil Refinery Workers affiliated with the O.B.U. (One Big Union). The Union held a two-week strike in 1918 which resulted in huge wage increases. Sam Turbitt was a foreman at the plant. Shortly thereafter 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.

Keywords: Imperial Oil Company, IOCO, Port Moody, Oil Refinery Workers Union, Winnipeg General Strike, Vancouver Trades and Labour Council, Sirdevan, Victor Midgely, Billy Baird, Ernie Singleton, Pat Denny, strike, company union, O.B.U. [One Big Union], Phoenix, Western Federation of Miners [W.F.M.], Grand Forks, Anyox, Princeton