On the Line: Stories of BC Workers
42 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -Canadian labour history storytelling podcast, produced by volunteers & staff of the BC Labour Heritage Centre on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) territories. Hosted by labour reporter & author Rod Mickleburgh.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Ep 26: Lenkurt Electric - Turning the Tide
May 01, 2024 00:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBA 1966 wildcat strike* by 400 mostly women members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) at Lenkurt Electric in Burnaby, BC was a turning point for the province's labour movement. This was a time when courts and police routinely jailed and fined union members during labour disputes, and Canadian members of international unions were demanding more autonomy. The story of the Lenkurt Electric strike is described by Ian McDonald, whose book "The Red Baron of IBEW Local ...
Ep. 25: A Struggle Too Long: Paul Robeson Sings at Peace Arch Park
February 25, 2024 21:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBThis episode features two larger than life historical figures: Harvey Murphy, regional director of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers Union and Paul Robeson, Black American superstar known around the world for his powerful singing voice and a fearless crusader for peace, universal justice and an end to racial discrimination in the United States. This was the cold war era, and the US government had Robeson pegged as a dangerous radical. Prevented from entering Canada t...
Ep. 24: Tatsuro Buck Suzuki: Community advocate, union activist, environmentalist
February 05, 2024 22:00 - 34 minutes - 23.7 MBWe celebrate the life of Tatsuro 'Buck' Suzuki, who spent his life advocating for the West Coast fishing community, first as a young liaison between Japanese Canadians and an industry dominated by Whites, then as a strong trade unionist, and finally, as an early environmental activist, fighting to protect salmon habitat. Included are recordings of Buck Suzuki made by the City of Richmond Archives in the 1970s, a few years before he died. We also spoke with Lorene Oikawa. Her father was B...
Ep 23: Teamster Diana Kilmury: B.C.’s Tough and Fearless Truck-Driving Woman
November 27, 2023 20:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBIn this episode of On the Line, we present a compelling tale of British Columbia's Diana Kilmury, a bold and fearless truck driver who became immersed in the murky male dominated world of the Teamsters Union back in the days when women behind the wheel of big trucks were as scarce as generous employers. She took on both sexist attitudes on the job and a union that was then, in the United States, riddled by corruption, with a top down leadership that was closely connected to organized crime a...
Episode 22: Darshan Singh Sangha: A Human Spirit that Transcended Boundaries
September 19, 2023 18:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBThis episode chronicles the exploits of someone who made a huge contribution to the early organizing efforts of the International Woodworkers of America and campaigned relentlessly for justice for South Asians like himself during the 1940s. That man is Darshan Singh Sangha. Yet few British Columbians outside the province's large South Asian community know anything about him. It's a captivating story that stretches from the Punjab where he was born, to Canada and then back to India. The episo...
Episode 21: Construction Unions, the False Creek Rumble and Expo 86
July 04, 2023 19:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MBWe look at the valiant efforts during the 1980s by B.C.'s unionized building trades to fight off the anti-union Social Credit government determined to break their hold on major construction projects in the province. It all came to a head in the run-up to Vancouver's World's Fair—Expo 86—and the building of the fair itself. Cheered on by fanatical anti-union contractors, the provincial government wanted to open the door to non-union contractors who bid on and won major projects that previou...
Episode 20: Grit and Working-Class Solidarity: B.C. Workers Respond to the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike
April 05, 2023 16:00 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MBThis episode highlights a remarkable but relatively unknown chapter of working-class solidarity. While waves of sympathy strikes to support the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike took place across Canada, the most pronounced of these was in Vancouver, B.C. Even after workers returned to their jobs, 325 women telephone operators stayed out for another two weeks. This was a time of unsurpassed working-class consciousness and resistance, the likes of which Canada had not seen before, nor since. You...
Episode 19: Union Maids in Action - The 1918 Steam Laundry Strike
January 31, 2023 02:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MBA five-month long strike in 1918-1919 by Vancouver laundry workers, most of whom were women, is told through the words of one of its leaders. Ellen Goode began working in a steam laundry at 15, toiling over 10 hours a day, sometimes 60 hours a week. She and her fellow workers formed a union in 1918. In September 1918 they went on strike. Supported by the rest of the union movement in Vancouver, they gave as good as they got, going after strikebreakers and doing whatever else was necessary ...
Episode 18: How Many Deaths Will It Take? Remembering the Canadian Farmworkers Union
November 25, 2022 17:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MBThis is the inspiring tale of a group of dedicated individuals who took up the cause of BC’s Fraser Valley Farmworkers who toiled in dreadful, unregulated conditions in the 1970s and ‘80s. It is a saga with death and violence and courageous union organizing. Drawing upon interviews from the University of the Fraser Valley’s South Asian Institute Union Zindabad! Project, led by the BC Labour Heritage Centre, we hear from those who saw the many wrongs taking place in the fertile fields and vow...
Episode 17: Asbestos - A Lethal Legacy
September 20, 2022 21:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MBThis episode looks at the grim toll taken by exposure to carcinogenic fibres of asbestos. Because it often takes decades for diseases such as mesothelioma - a cancer caused by asbestos exposure - to develop, its legacy is ongoing. We’ve known about these dangers for decades, yet the widespread use of asbestos continued long after its lethal properties were beyond dispute. It routinely found its way into a startling range of construction materials and, ironically, safety products. In Sep...
Episode 16: The Union Archive That Almost Didn't Make It
July 05, 2022 15:00 - 27 minutes - 18.9 MBIn 2019, former members of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) along with community historians opened the IWA Archive in Lake Cowichan BC. Located at the Kaatza Station Museum, the IWA Archive is near the home of the first IWA local in the province. The Museum also houses the fabulous Wilmer Gold Photo Collection. The founding convention of the IWA took place in Tacoma Washington in 1937. Its first President was Harold Pritchett from British Columbia, who was also the first Ca...
Episode 15: Smelter Wars
May 09, 2022 16:00 - 40 minutes - 27.9 MBThe workers at the lead-zinc smelter in Trail, British Columbia have a long history of overcoming formidable obstacles to unionization. Contentious politics, a company union and two World Wars are some of the issues discussed in this episode. We talk to Ron Verzuh whose new book Smelter Wars: A Rebellious Red Trade Union Fights for its Life in Wartime Western Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2022) has just been published. We also listen to archived interviews with two men who worked ...
Episode 14: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
March 03, 2022 04:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBAs Black History Month comes to a close, On the Line marks the occasion with a fascinating look back at the history of train sleeping car porters, almost all of whom were Black. It's a story that has only recently started to be told, and combines the history of Black employment in Canada, unionization and the fight for dignity and equality. We examine those long lost days mostly through the voice of Warren Williams, whose Uncle Lee was in the forefront of the drive to organize Sleeping Ca...
Ep. 14: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
March 03, 2022 04:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBAs Black History Month comes to a close, On the Line marks the occasion with a fascinating look back at the history of train sleeping car porters, almost all of whom were Black. It's a story that has only recently started to be told, and combines the history of Black employment in Canada, unionization and the fight for dignity and equality. We examine those long lost days mostly through the voice of Warren Williams, whose Uncle Lee was in the forefront of the drive to organize Sleeping Ca...
Ep 13: Relief Camps of the Great Depression
February 08, 2022 01:00 - 25 minutes - 17.6 MBFeaturing archival audio interviews and labour songs of the time, this episode examines the so-called "Dirty Thirties" or "The Great Depression" and the forced labour relief camps the Federal Government of Canada set up in response. We include a special focus on a little known relief camp that was a mere hop, skip and a jump from downtown Vancouver, BC, in North Vancouver. This is the story of the Blair Rifle Range and other relief camps in B.C. Learn more: labourheritagecentre.ca/blair-rif...
Episode 13: Relief Camps of the Great Depression
February 08, 2022 01:00 - 25 minutes - 17.6 MBFeaturing archival audio interviews and labour songs of the time, this episode examines the so-called "Dirty Thirties" or "The Great Depression" and the forced labour relief camps the Federal Government of Canada set up in response. We include a special focus on a little known relief camp that was a mere hop, skip and a jump from downtown Vancouver, BC, in North Vancouver. This is the story of the Blair Rifle Range and other relief camps in B.C. Learn more: labourheritagecentre.ca/blair-rif...
Ep. 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay, BC, 1938
December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBAn epic confrontation just before WWII between mine workers fighting for justice and an arrogant company with authorities in their hip pocket. This is the story that has come to be known as The Battle of Blubber Bay. Once a whaling station on Texada Island, Blubber Bay, British Columbia was home to an enormous open-pit limestone mine on the north end of the island. Starting just after the turn of the century, workers - many of them Chinese - had toiled away in the 250-ft deep pit. An obstina...
Ep. 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay
December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBAn epic confrontation just before WWII between mine workers fighting for justice and an arrogant company with authorities in their hip pocket. This is the story that has come to be known as The Battle of Blubber Bay. Once a whaling station on Texada Island, Blubber Bay, British Columbia was home to an enormous open-pit limestone mine on the north end of the island. Starting just after the turn of the century, workers - many of them Chinese - had toiled away in the 250-ft deep pit. An obstina...
Episode 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay, BC, 1938
December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBAn epic confrontation just before WWII between mine workers fighting for justice and an arrogant company with authorities in their hip pocket. This is the story that has come to be known as The Battle of Blubber Bay. Once a whaling station on Texada Island, Blubber Bay, British Columbia was home to an enormous open-pit limestone mine on the north end of the island. Starting just after the turn of the century, workers - many of them Chinese - had toiled away in the 250-ft deep pit. An obstina...
Episode 11: Chinese Farmers of "Celery City", Armstrong BC
October 04, 2021 23:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBThe small community of Armstrong, BC, just north of Vernon in the province's Interior, was once "the Celery Capital of Canada". Armstrong's early agricultural success owes much to the hard working Chinese immigrants who cultivated the city's fertile bottomlands. As many as 500 Chinese labourers lived in huts and bunkhouses in Chinatown in the winter, growing crops including celery, cabbage, lettuce and potatoes to be shipped across Canada. They faced restrictive immigration laws, a prohibiti...
Ep. 11: Chinese Farmers of "Celery City", Armstrong BC
October 04, 2021 23:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBThe small community of Armstrong, BC, just north of Vernon in the province's Interior, was once "the Celery Capital of Canada". Armstrong's early agricultural success owes much to the hard working Chinese immigrants who cultivated the city's fertile bottomlands. As many as 500 Chinese labourers lived in huts and bunkhouses in Chinatown in the winter, growing crops including celery, cabbage, lettuce and potatoes to be shipped across Canada. They faced restrictive immigration laws, a prohibiti...
Episode 10: 'Pins & Needles' - A 1930's Garment Workers' Musical
August 23, 2021 22:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBAfter a brief summer break, On the Line is back with more BC labour history! In September 1938, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) brought their theatrical musical hit “Pins and Needles” to Vancouver, BC, where it played to glowing reviews. Among the audience were trades union members of all kinds and noted labour artist Fraser Wilson. The cast were all ILGWU members from New York garment factories, or as The Province newspaper reviewer called them “just plain, simple, c...
Ep. 10: 'Pins & Needles' - A 1930's Garment Workers' Musical
August 23, 2021 22:00 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBAfter a brief summer break, On the Line is back with more BC labour history! In September 1938, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) brought their theatrical musical hit “Pins and Needles” to Vancouver, BC, where it played to glowing reviews. Among the audience were trades union members of all kinds and noted labour artist Fraser Wilson. The cast were all ILGWU members from New York garment factories, or as The Province newspaper reviewer called them “just plain, simple, c...
Episode 9: Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.
June 29, 2021 21:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBThis edition of On the Line takes note of Indigenous History Month in June with a different aspect of BC's Indigenous history: one that is not very well known. We examine the contribution of Indigenous workers to the port of Vancouver, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, largely through the voices of those who worked the waterfront - and it's a union story, too. In 1906, the independent Lumber Handlers Union was established as local 526 of the Industrial Workers of the World...
Ep. 9: Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.
June 29, 2021 21:00 - 22 minutes - 15.3 MBThis edition of On the Line takes note of Indigenous History Month in June with a different aspect of BC's Indigenous history: one that is not very well known. We examine the contribution of Indigenous workers to the port of Vancouver, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, largely through the voices of those who worked the waterfront - and it's a union story, too. In 1906, the independent Lumber Handlers Union was established as local 526 of the Industrial Workers of the World...
Ep. 8: Uniting Woodworkers Across Ethnic Divides
May 24, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBMay is Asian Heritage Month; last month was Sikh Heritage Month. Both groups are justly celebrated for their contributions to the fabric of BC. At the same time, they also suffered many years of exploitation and discrimination, much of it in the workplace. For many reasons, including the racist policies of many unions, they were very hard to organize - but one union, the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), met the challenge head-on. This is the story of three remarkable Asian organiz...
Episode 8: Uniting Woodworkers Across Ethnic Divides
May 24, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutes - 20 MBMay is Asian Heritage Month; last month was Sikh Heritage Month. Both groups are justly celebrated for their contributions to the fabric of BC. At the same time, they also suffered many years of exploitation and discrimination, much of it in the workplace. For many reasons, including the racist policies of many unions, they were very hard to organize - but one union, the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), met the challenge head-on. This is the story of three remarkable Asian organiz...
Ep. 7: Bea Zucco's Fight for Silicosis Compensation
April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBApril 28th marks Canada's annual Day of Mourning. Of course, industrial accidents are not the only risk workers face; occupational diseases, brought on by hazardous workplace conditions, have also claimed a terrible toll. One of the worst has been silicosis, a coating of the lungs by deadly silica dust inhaled by generations of hard-rock miners. To mark this month's Day of Mourning, we bring you the story of Bea Zucco: a third generation pioneer from Grand Forks, BC and a miner's wife. Ordin...
Ep. 7: Bea Zucco
April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBApril 28th marks Canada's annual Day of Mourning. Of course, industrial accidents are not the only risk workers face; occupational diseases, brought on by hazardous workplace conditions, have also claimed a terrible toll. One of the worst has been silicosis, a coating of the lungs by deadly silica dust inhaled by generations of hard-rock miners. To mark this month's Day of Mourning, we bring you the story of Bea Zucco: a third generation pioneer from Grand Forks, BC and a miner's wife. Ordin...
Episode 7: Bea Zucco's Fight for Silicosis Compensation
April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBApril 28th marks Canada's annual Day of Mourning. Of course, industrial accidents are not the only risk workers face; occupational diseases, brought on by hazardous workplace conditions, have also claimed a terrible toll. One of the worst has been silicosis, a coating of the lungs by deadly silica dust inhaled by generations of hard-rock miners. To mark this month's Day of Mourning, we bring you the story of Bea Zucco: a third generation pioneer from Grand Forks, BC and a miner's wife. Ordin...
Ep. 6: AUCE Achieves Full Maternity Benefits, 1974
March 01, 2021 21:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBIn 1974, years before other Canadian unions won maternity leave benefits in collective agreements, the Association of University & College Employees (AUCE) Local 1 at the University of BC (UBC) made history. In its first collective agreement, UBC clerical and library workers achieved contract language that provided fully funded maternity leave for its members. It was a breakthrough not just for workers at UBC, but for families across the country. This is their story. Guest host Bailey Garden...
Episode 6: AUCE Achieves Full Maternity Benefits, 1974
March 01, 2021 21:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBIn 1974, years before other Canadian unions won maternity leave benefits in collective agreements, the Association of University & College Employees (AUCE) Local 1 at the University of BC (UBC) made history. In its first collective agreement, UBC clerical and library workers achieved contract language that provided fully funded maternity leave for its members. It was a breakthrough not just for workers at UBC, but for families across the country. This is their story. Guest host Bailey Garden...
Episode 5: The 1921 New Westminster Teachers' Strike
February 01, 2021 16:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBIn this episode, we look back one hundred years to Valentine's Day, 1921. On that traditional day of romance, a group of courageous public school teachers in New Westminster, BC did the unthinkable: they went on strike. Their walkout had a lasting, positive impact on teachers across the province for years to come. There would not be another strike by a teachers local in the province for 53 years. This is their story. What led these teachers, most of them young women, to take their bold actio...
Ep. 5: The 1921 New Westminster Teachers' Strike
February 01, 2021 16:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBIn this episode, we look back one hundred years to Valentine's Day, 1921. On that traditional day of romance, a group of courageous public school teachers in New Westminster, BC did the unthinkable: they went on strike. Their walkout had a lasting, positive impact on teachers across the province for years to come. There would not be another strike by a teachers local in the province for 53 years. This is their story. What led these teachers, most of them young women, to take their bold actio...
Ep. 4: The Vancouver Island Coal Strike
January 05, 2021 19:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBFrom the 1870's on, the coal miners of Vancouver Island had fought strike after strike to force the hardnosed coal barons to recognize a union. Thanks to strikebreakers, blacklists, anti-union courts and the forces of so-called law and order, they lost them all. Finally, in 1911, the miners invited in the tough, experienced and deep-pocketed United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) to make one last all-out attempt to bring the mine owners to heel. What started as a flare-up over safety quickly s...
Episode. 4: The Vancouver Island Coal Strike
January 05, 2021 19:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBFrom the 1870's on, the coal miners of Vancouver Island had fought strike after strike to force the hardnosed coal barons to recognize a union. Thanks to strikebreakers, blacklists, anti-union courts and the forces of so-called law and order, they lost them all. Finally, in 1911, the miners invited in the tough, experienced and deep-pocketed United Mineworkers of America (UMWA) to make one last all-out attempt to bring the mine owners to heel. What started as a flare-up over safety quickly s...
Ep. 3: The 1983 Tranquille Occupation
November 02, 2020 21:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBOn July 19, 1983, members of the BC Government and Service Employees Union, better known as the BCGEU, learned that the large Tranquille Institution in Kamloops, British Columbia would be shut down. For the 600 BCGEU members at the site, many of whom had worked with the residents for years, this was simply unacceptable. They decided to take matters into their own hands. A hand-painted union flag was raised, locks were changed, managers evicted, and the workers took control. The unprecedente...
Episode 3: The 1983 Tranquille Occupation
November 02, 2020 21:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBOn July 19, 1983, members of the BC Government and Service Employees Union, better known as the BCGEU, learned that the large Tranquille Institution in Kamloops, British Columbia would be shut down. For the 600 BCGEU members at the site, many of whom had worked with the residents for years, this was simply unacceptable. They decided to take matters into their own hands. A hand-painted union flag was raised, locks were changed, managers evicted, and the workers took control. The unprecedente...
Episode 2: The 1931 Fraser Mills Strike
October 05, 2020 20:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBNearly 90 years ago, in the dark years of the Great Depression, union membership and the number of strikes in B.C. fell dramatically; but every now and then, against all odds, workers took a stand. It happened in September 1931 at the Fraser Mills Lumber plant on the shores of the Fraser River in Maillardville, now part of Coquitlam. A diverse group of rank-and-file workers set aside their racial divisions and came together to fight for better wages, better working conditions and basic respe...
Ep. 2: The 1931 Fraser Mills Strike
October 05, 2020 20:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBNearly 90 years ago, in the dark years of the Great Depression, union membership and the number of strikes in BC fell dramatically; but every now and then, against all odds, workers took a stand. It happened in Sept. 1931 at the Fraser Mills Lumber Plant on the shores of the Fraser River in Maillardville, now part of Coquitlam. A diverse group of rank-and-file workers set aside their racial divisions and came together to fight for better wages, better working conditions and basic respect as ...
Episode 1: Joe Naylor
September 04, 2020 00:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBAt the annual Miners Memorial Weekend held in Cumberland, British Columbia each June, participants lay roses at the grave of the famous labour martyr Ginger Goodwin. Nearby his distinctive headstone, almost unnoticed, is a simple metal plate affixed to a stone. This modest marker identifies the grave of coal miner Joe Naylor (1872-1946), an unsung hero of the labour movement and both comrade and mentor to Ginger Goodwin. A socialist, pacifist, modest, principled leader and supporter of work...
Ep. 1: Joe Naylor
September 04, 2020 00:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBAt the annual Miners Memorial Weekend held in Cumberland, British Columbia each June, participants lay roses at the grave of the famous labour martyr Ginger Goodwin. Nearby his distinctive headstone, almost unnoticed, is a simple metal plate affixed to a stone. This modest marker identifies the grave of coal miner Joe Naylor (1872-1946), an unsung hero of the labour movement and both comrade and mentor to Ginger: A socialist, pacifist, modest, principled leader and supporter of working clas...