Percy Trerise – Granite Cutters Union and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 18

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Percy Trerise (1886-1965) was born in Cornwall, England and arrived in Canada around 1908. He initially worked as a granite cutter. He describes a jurisdictional dispute between granite cutters and stone cutters as the industry adopted pneumatic drills. The dispute was arbitrated by the American Federation of Labor with the unions splitting jurisdiction 50-50. Trerise joined the Vancouver Fire Department in 1917. Vancouver firemen organized as International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 18 in 1918. They met with considerable opposition from “influential people” who believed it “too revolutionary” for firemen to belong to a union. Trerise was a delegate from IAFF Local 18 (Vancouver) to the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. In this interview, Trerise discusses the activities of the Asiatic Exclusion League in Vancouver, and the evolution in labour’s attitudes regarding race in the labour movement. 

Keywords: International Granite Cutters’ Union [Granite Cutters’ International Association of America], Journeymen Stonecutters’ Association of North America, Asiatic Exclusion League, Joe Phillips, Chinatown riots, Powell Street, Vancouver Fire Department, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 18, Birt Showler, Percy Bengough, Vancouver Trades and Labour Council, Winnipeg General Strike, Haddington Island stone, pneumatic drills, American Federation of Labour, Jurisdictional Disputes Committee, Jim Duncan, George Richardson, Victor Midgley, Roary MacDonald, Bob Middleton