Labour Heritage Moments
These short (3-4 minute) videos were created by the BC Labour Heritage Centre to highlight important stories from our history. Archival recordings and images are woven with excellent storytelling and contemporary testimonies.
Research and writing: Natasha Fairweather, Donna Sacuta
Video and sound editing: Rob Leichner (Canadian Labour Congress)
Narrator: Natasha Fairweather
We encourage sharing at union meetings, education courses and on social media.
Featuring: Ron “Red” Baker, John Cordocedo, Sam George
Early Indigenous longshoremen formed one of the first unions on the Vancouver waterfront, the Lumber Handlers’ Union. They joined the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) in 1906.
Featuring: Raj Chouhan, Kristina Vandervoort, Judy Darcy
In 2002, when the B.C. Liberal provincial government broke its promise to healthcare workers and tore up their collective agreements, they cleared the way for massive contracting out and privatization in health care. B.C. unions, led by the Hospital Employees’ Union, took a constitutional challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Featuring: Bob Smeal
When the economy collapsed in 1929, millions of Canadians became unemployed. At 14, Bob Smeal – who later became President of the B.C. Federation of Labour – left home for Vancouver. He describes what it was like to be homeless, starving, lonely and cold.
Featuring: Sean Griffin, Les Copan
In the 1960s court injunctions became the favourite way for employers to keep labour in its place. A steady stream of union leaders were sent to jail for defying these injunctions.
Featuring: Jack Webster, Ken Georgetti, Mike Dumler
B.C. labour called a one-day general strike in 1987 after the Social Credit government abolished the Labour Relations Board. Premier Bill VanderZalm responded with an unusual strategy.
Ginger Goodwin (00:03:12)
Featuring: Peter Campbell Munro, Donna Sacuta
Mine union organizer Ginger Goodwin was shot and killed on Vancouver Island in 1918 after being conscripted to fight in the “Capitalists’ War” in Europe.
Featuring: Roy Mah, Joe Miyazawa, Donna Sacuta
In the 1940s, the International Woodworkers of America (I.W.A.) championed racial inclusion in their union. They hired organizers that reflected the diversity of their members.
Featuring: Gary Steeves
In July 1983, BCGEU members in Kamloops, B.C. occupied the Tranquille Institution for 21 days. They evicted the managers, changed the locks, and declared the facility “Under New Management”.
Featuring: Lee Loftus, Laird Cronk
Asbestos is the leading cause of death in today’s workplace. Because diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis can take decades to appear, it will continue to be a killer for many more years. In 2022, the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre unveiled the first memorial in North America to the victims of asbestos exposure.