Latest Working people Podcast Episodes
Ep 26: Lenkurt Electric - Turning the Tide
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - May 01, 2024 00:00 - 30 minutesA 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 labou...
Ep. 25: A Struggle Too Long: Paul Robeson Sings at Peace Arch Park
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - February 25, 2024 21:00 - 23 minutesThis 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, un...
Ep. 24: Tatsuro Buck Suzuki: Community advocate, union activist, environmentalist
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - February 05, 2024 22:00 - 34 minutesWe 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 ...
Ep 23: Teamster Diana Kilmury: B.C.’s Tough and Fearless Truck-Driving Woman
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - November 27, 2023 20:00 - 39 minutesIn 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 em...
Episode 22: Darshan Singh Sangha: A Human Spirit that Transcended Boundaries
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - September 19, 2023 18:00 - 25 minutesThis 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 Colum...
Episode 21: Construction Unions, the False Creek Rumble and Expo 86
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - July 04, 2023 19:00 - 26 minutesWe 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...
Episode 20: Grit and Working-Class Solidarity: B.C. Workers Respond to the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - April 05, 2023 16:00 - 19 minutesThis 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, 32...
Episode 19: Union Maids in Action - The 1918 Steam Laundry Strike
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - January 31, 2023 02:00 - 22 minutesA 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 ...
Episode 18: How Many Deaths Will It Take? Remembering the Canadian Farmworkers Union
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - November 25, 2022 17:00 - 33 minutesThis 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 Univ...
Episode 17: Asbestos - A Lethal Legacy
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - September 20, 2022 21:00 - 23 minutesThis 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 widesprea...
Episode 16: The Union Archive That Almost Didn't Make It
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - July 05, 2022 15:00 - 27 minutesIn 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 fabulou...
Episode 15: Smelter Wars
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - May 09, 2022 16:00 - 40 minutesThe 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:...
Episode 14: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - March 03, 2022 04:00 - 26 minutesAs 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, unioni...
Ep. 14: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - March 03, 2022 04:00 - 26 minutesAs 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, unioni...
Ep 13: Relief Camps of the Great Depression
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - February 08, 2022 01:00 - 25 minutesFeaturing 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 w...
Episode 13: Relief Camps of the Great Depression
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - February 08, 2022 01:00 - 25 minutesFeaturing 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 w...
Ep. 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay, BC, 1938
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutesAn 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...
Ep. 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutesAn 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...
Episode 12: The Battle of Blubber Bay, BC, 1938
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - December 08, 2021 21:00 - 19 minutesAn 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...
Episode 11: Chinese Farmers of "Celery City", Armstrong BC
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - October 04, 2021 23:00 - 18 minutesThe 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 ...
Ep. 11: Chinese Farmers of "Celery City", Armstrong BC
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - October 04, 2021 23:00 - 18 minutesThe 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 ...
Episode 10: 'Pins & Needles' - A 1930's Garment Workers' Musical
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - August 23, 2021 22:00 - 17 minutesAfter 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 unio...
Ep. 10: 'Pins & Needles' - A 1930's Garment Workers' Musical
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - August 23, 2021 22:00 - 17 minutesAfter 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 unio...
Episode 9: Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - June 29, 2021 21:00 - 22 minutesThis 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...
Ep. 9: Indigenous Longshoremen & the I.W.W.
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - June 29, 2021 21:00 - 22 minutesThis 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...
Ep. 8: Uniting Woodworkers Across Ethnic Divides
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - May 24, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutesMay 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 ...
Episode 8: Uniting Woodworkers Across Ethnic Divides
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - May 24, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutesMay 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 ...
Ep. 7: Bea Zucco's Fight for Silicosis Compensation
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutesApril 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 sili...
Ep. 7: Bea Zucco
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutesApril 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 sili...
Episode 7: Bea Zucco's Fight for Silicosis Compensation
On the Line: Stories of BC Workers - April 07, 2021 17:00 - 21 minutesApril 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 sili...
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