Frank Everitt
Interviewed by George Davison
Born in a small farming community is Northern Saskatchewan, Frank ventured to Quesnel in 1971. He was 18 years old when he arrived and was looking for work in the forest industry. The first job was in a planer mill with Weldwood Canada where he worked on the green chain and as a forklift operator. During his 8 years at the mill, Frank was involved in his International Woodworkers of America (IWA) union local, going from shop steward to local executive member, to chair of the plant committee.
In 1979, he took a full-time job with the IWA as a rep working out of the Prince George office. In 1983 Frank was elected as the local president, which placed him on the BC executive.
Frank discusses some of many issues he’s faced during his career, such as the long 1986 strike over contracting out, the effect of mill closures, the drastic reductions in union membership, the amalgamations of local unions, and the 2004 merger into the Steelworkers’ Union.
He reflects on the changes over the decades. When Frank first started work in the ‘70s there was very little in the way of safety equipment or practices. There was not even a requirement to wear or provide hard hats. That certainly changed during his tenure, although not quickly enough. The fatal sawdust explosions at the Burns Lake and Lakeland mills rocked the industry. Frank was involved in the aftermath.
Keywords
Forest industry; farming; planar mills; International Woodworkers of America (IWA); Quesnel, BC; safety regulations; occupational health and safety; shop steward; Prince George, BC; union local; territory; sawmills; bargaining; job evaluation; union elections; strikes; 1986 mill strike; Operation Solidarity; union structure; contracting-out; forest management; amalgamation; research; union merger; United Steelworkers union (USW); mill explosions; Babine; Lakeland mill; Steve Hunt; municipal politics; city council; continuity of employment; benefits; modernization; labour history; Day of Mourning; memorial for killed and injured workers; College of New Caledonia (CNC); 1995 college strike; the central interior region; post-secondary funding