Elroy Robson

Elroy Robson – Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers (CBRT&GW)

Download Elroy Robson audio recording (.mp3)

This is a 1964 interview with Elroy Robson, a labour organizer for the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers who also held senior offices in the union and other central labour bodies.. He discusses his 47-year-long career from 1917 onward. He talks about organizing struggles, conflicts with the American Federation of Labor, the development of industrial unions, the Great Depression, and various political organizations affiliated with the labor movement in the early 20th century. Robson was present at the Vancouver Labour Temple in 1918 when soldiers stormed the building, forcing him and other union officials onto the exterior ledge of the building to protect their lives. His first-hand account of that day is the only known recording.

Keywords: CBRT, Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Transport and General Workers, Trades and Labour Congress, Trades and Labour Congress, Winnipeg, Toronto, conscription, Ginger Goodwin, Labour Temple, general strike, conscription, First World War, Second World War, Railway War Board, Conciliation Board, Independent Labor Party, Socialist Party of Canada, CCF, Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, New Democratic Party, One Big Union, On to Ottawa Trek, Depression, American Federation of Labor, Tommy McGregor, JS Woodsworth, Communist Party, Tim Buck, Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, Workers’ Unity League, Trade Union Educational League, William Z. Foster, ACCL [All Canadian Congress of Labour], Adam Hay, Frank Hall, Canadian Miners’ Union, CIO [Congress of Industrial Organizations], CCL [Canadian Congress of Labor], CLC [Canadian Labor Congress], Steelworkers Union, Canadian Federation of Labor, Burford, Mosher, relief, unemployment associations, Canada Permanent Loan Company, longshore union, Ernie Winch, Amalgamated Building Workers, United Rubber Workers, Packinghouse Workers, Sam Baron, Oil Workers, Chemical Workers, Canadian unions, Machinists’ Union [IAM], Brotherhood of Electrical Workers [IBEW], international unions, Automobile Workers, Alan Meikle, Bob Russell