Roger Stonebanks
Interviewed by Rod Mickleburgh
Roger Stonebanks grew up in a conservative family in England and attended boarding school. He learned the value of organizing when, as a young boy, he organized a boycott to demand better food at school. The boycott failed, but the lesson stuck.
Early on, Roger had a desire to become a reporter. He was hired by The Canadian Press (CP) as a copy boy and junior reporter, which led in time to a move to Montreal and then Toronto.
He wanted to move to Vancouver but CP didn’t have a job opening there. Roger quit and moved anyway, and a lucky opening at CP kept him employed. They then asked him to move to Victoria, where he worked for a time. Frustrated with CP’s pay and lack of unionization, he eventually left to work for the Victoria Times in 1964, where reporters were represented by the Newspaper Guild. Roger became the paper’s labour reporter and was actively involved in the Newspaper Guild. His involvement in union activities led to conflicts with management, who viewed his role as a labor reporter as incompatible with his union activities.
In 1973, Roger was the chair of the negotiating committee and co-chair of the Victoria Joint Council of Newspaper Unions. Bargaining broke down and a six-month strike-lockout against the Victoria Times and Victoria Colonist followed. Key issues in the dispute included contracting-out and technological change.
The strike lasted as long as it did because the unions immediately set up their own newspaper, The Victoria Express, which filled the news void in Victoria with the shutdown of its two dailies. Roger explains the complicated logistics involved in running the paper, whose success allowed the unions to continue operating and even to make a profit during the dispute.
After Roger retired, he became more interested in labour history. He wrote a book, Fighting for Dignity, about the life of Ginger Goodwin. He also wrote an article for the Times-Colonist on Joe Naylor: another Cumberland miner and labour activist. Roger says he was interested in Naylor because Naylor seems to have been overshadowed by Goodwin.
The conversation closes as Roger recounts how he told his colleagues during the 1973 strike that if they stayed together, they could win. They stood together, and they won.
Keywords
The Associated Press [AP]; The Canadian Press [CP]; Phil Adler; Victoria Times; The Newspaper Guild; labour reporting; W.A.C. Bennett; B.C. General Employees’ Union [BCGEU]; International Woodworkers of America [I.W.A.]; strikebreakers; scabs; Edwin Pearlman; The Vancouver Sun; The Province; The New Westminster Columbian; Terry Glavin; Len Guy; International Typographical Union [I.T.U.]; newspaper strike; 1973 strike at Victoria Press; The Victoria Express; strike newspaper; Bob Milliken; Teamsters Local 31; B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union [BCFMWU]; Andy Bigg; Horizon Publications; David Radler; Al Straight; Jan O’Brien; Dave Barrett; Bill King; Clive McKee; Bruce Lowther; Barbara McClintock; Cumberland, BC; Ginger Goodwin; Joe Naylor; labour history; Mark Leier