Interviewed by Carmela Allevato and Rod Mickleburgh

Vince Ready is a legendary labour relations practitioner who has arbitrated and mediated several thousand disputes across Canada in all types of industries.

Vince was born in Renfrew Ontario and lived on a farm with his parents and siblings until he left home at age 15. Soon after that he started working in mining. The second day he went underground at the Bancroft uranium mine, Vince got involved with the union. Like many men of the time, he travelled around the country working in mines. He was working at the Granduc Copper Mine in Stewart, B.C. in February 1965 when an avalanche killed 28 workers. Vince is the last living survivor of that avalanche.

In the mid-sixties he became an organizer for the Mine Mill union (International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers). After Mine Mill merged with the United Steelworkers in 1967, he worked as an organizer, staff representative, and troubleshooter for the Steelworkers. Vince says he learned his mediation skills working as a troubleshooter.

In 1978, Vince left the Steelworkers and began working as a mediator for Labour Canada. A few years later, he became a mediator for the B.C. government. In 1982, he set up his private arbitration and mediation practice.

In the interview Vince shares his experiences and views on many events and labour relations topics including:

• Labour leaders that he has known and worked with such as Al King and Harvey Murphy
• The 1974 Cominco strike in Trail
• Mediating the Operation Solidarity general strike
• The restructuring of the B.C. healthcare system
• Changes in the labour movement over his working life
• Canada’s labour movement compared to other countries
• The current challenges of organizing
• His approach to mediation and collective bargaining

Throughout the interview, Vince demonstrates passion for labour relations, as well as his ability and skill to navigate complex disputes.

Key words

Mining; Mining Association; mining contractors; tramp miners; Bancroft Mine; Thompson Mine; Inco; Granduc Copper Mine; Fording Coal Mine; Endako Mine; Royal Oak Mines; Gibraltar Mine; Craigmont Mines; Highland Valley Copper Mine; Cominco; Boss Mountain Mine; Elliot Lake uranium mines; uranium mining; United Steelworkers; USW; International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers; Mine Mill union; Shaft and Development Worker’s Union; CAIMAW; Canadian Association of Mechanical and Allied Workers; International Union of Operating Engineers; IUOE; Tunnel and Rock Workers Union; Teamsters; Tri Pact; CASAW; Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers; BCGEU; BC General Employees’ Union; Hospital Employees’ Union; HEU; Health Sciences Association; HSA; International Woodworkers of America; IWA; BC Teachers’ Federation; company unions; wildcat strikes; union organizing; Operation Solidarity; Cominco 1974 strike; Whisler bus drivers’ strike; check-off; bonus pay; seniority rights; tenure; employment security; pay equity; private sector pension; raiding; labour movement in Canada; labour movement in the United States; labour movement in Europe; labour code; government impact on collective bargaining; organizing fast food employers; sectoral bargaining; collective bargaining and mediation techniques; works councils; communism; Canada Federal Order-in-Council PC 1003; Granduc Mine 1965 Avalanche; Anti-Inflation Board; Trail B.C; Labour Canada; North American Construction Group; Conair Group; British Columbia Railway Company; Kelowna Accord; Health Employers’ Association of British Columbia; HEABC; B.C. Health Labour Accord; B.C. 1996 Industrial Inquiry Commission Health Care Collective Bargaining; health care closer to home; Charlie Mitchell; Gordon Young; Archie MacDonald; Al King; Paul Weiler; Cecil Alan Palmer; Bill Milner; Harvey Murphy; Bill Longridge; Paul Robeson; Jess Succamore; Art Kube; Buzz Hargrove; Hemi Mitic; Jack Munro; Bob Baird; Steve Hunt; Mark Colon; Selwyn Blaylock; Len Stevens; Bill Kelly; William Patrick Kelly; Bill Bennett; Allan Williams; Bob Plecas; Norman Spector; Art Kube; Larry Kuehn; Alex Fraser; Larry Gregg; Grant McArthur; Carmela Allevato; Gordon Campbell; David Reynolds; Peter Cameron; Glen Clark; Doug McArthur; Jinny Sims

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