The history of British Columbia鈥檚 labour movement, the most militant in sa国际传媒, had one of its beginnings in Victoria, with city bakers organizing a union, says the author of a new book on sa国际传媒鈥檚 union history.
Rod Mickleburgh, author of On聽the Line, A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement, said the first known record of any union in sa国际传媒 is those bakers organizing in Victoria in 1859-60.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know much about them except for one mention in a local newspaper,鈥� said Mickleburgh. 鈥淏ut the first union we know of in sa国际传媒 was in Victoria, those bakers.鈥�
His book, he says, is the first comprehensive look at sa国际传媒 labour history. It starts in 1789 when Capt. James Cook sailed into Nootka Sound. It ends in 2017 when the Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 ruled the provincial Liberal government was out of line when it overturned the teachers鈥� 2002 negotiated contracts.
Mickleburgh, now retired, was labour reporter for the Vancouver Sun and Province and former senior writer for the Globe and Mail. When he first began as a labour reporter, one of two at the Vancouver Sun, he worked an evening shift and spent many hours on the phone with labour leaders and became fascinated.
鈥淭hese are not ordinary, run-of-the-mill type of people,鈥� he said. 鈥淥rdinary people just don鈥檛 become labour leaders, because it takes an extraordinary type of person, and sa国际传媒 is full of them.鈥�
For Mickleburgh, what sets the sa国际传媒 labour scene apart from those in other provinces is its consistent militancy.
鈥淭he labour movement in sa国际传媒 has been militant for about 150聽years,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a real tradition of union militancy in聽British Columbia that doesn鈥檛 exist anywhere else in sa国际传媒.鈥�
He agreed Quebec has had some moments of union militancy, particularly during the governments of Maurice Duplessis (in office 1936-1939 and 1944-1959). But Quebec labour was tied to the province鈥檚 unique historical battles, principally against the power of the Roman Catholic Church. Labour militancy tended to be more sporadic than in sa国际传媒
Mickleburgh said the sa国际传媒 labour mindset has always been based more on a foundation of 鈥渃lass struggle鈥� than solely on determination to get workers better money and working conditions.
He said the mindset can be traced to British Columbia鈥檚 development as a resource-based economy, where other provinces started with farmers.
Agriculture provides a stable economic and social base to build a professional, middle class. But sa国际传媒鈥檚 landscape offers comparatively few farming opportunities. So those who moved here went to work mining, fishing and logging.
鈥淩ight off the bat you had a scene for a class struggle,鈥� said Mickleburgh. 鈥淚t was the working class taking on the owners.鈥�
鈥淐ompanies and corporations and moguls and barons, all those people wanted to exploit the resources for as much profit as possible,鈥� he said. 鈥淧art of that was paying workers as little as possible and putting them in conditions that were as bad as possible.鈥�
The first evidence of labour action is in 1850. The Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company had recruited experienced deep-tunnel miners from Scotland to exploit a newly discovered coal site on Vancouver Island near Nanaimo.
But when those Scottish miners arrived they found no working site, no homes, no proper food and a suspicious Indigenous population who had previously been doing the surface mining themselves. So the Scots went on strike.
First Nations people were the first workers in sa国际传媒, before the striking Scots. Even with the various disease horrors introduced by Europeans, Indigenous peoples were in the majority until 1890.
鈥淲ho were the first miners? Who were the first loggers? Who were the first fishermen and who was working on the docks first of all?鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll that stuff was mostly First Nations.鈥�
鈥淸The First Nations] regarded it as trade,鈥� said Mickleburgh. 鈥淭hey gave their labour and in return they got wages.鈥�
This led to a historic event in 1906, when First Nations dockworkers in Vancouver organized their own union, known as the Bows and Arrows. The group affiliated with the radical Industrial Workers of the World.
The class-struggle aspect of sa国际传媒 labour history led to the Great Vancouver Island Coal Strike, 1912-1914, the most protracted, toughest fight in the province鈥檚 history.
One of the leaders of that strike, Ginger Goodwin, would later go into hiding when he was declared fit for the First World War. A special constable tracked down and shot Goodwin in 1918.
Horrified by Goodwin鈥檚 killing, union workers in Vancouver shut down Vancouver in protest, sa国际传媒鈥檚 first general strike.
In 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression, the On to Ottawa Trek began in sa国际传媒 Workers living in relief camps protested their conditions and pay and staged a two-month protest in Vancouver before boarding freight cars on eastbound trains.
That protest ended in a riot in Regina with many protesters hospitalized and two people killed.
Mickleburgh said that in researching the book, what most surprised him was the continual pattern of struggle and loss for the early sa国际传媒 labour movement, because no company was required to recognize its union. Companies sometimes increased wages and improved conditions, but never signed a contract.
鈥淎 union would go on strike. The company would hire strike breakers. The strike breakers would get protection from police, government, the courts and vigilantes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he deck was pretty well stacked against the unions.鈥�
Mickleburgh said it wasn鈥檛 until the Second World War, when war production made workers essential, that government acted. Legislation obliging employers to recognize and deal with their unions meant labour started to score successes.
In sa国际传媒, with resource extraction and processing still paramount, this led to wins and improved lives for many union workers. By 1958, more than half of all workers in sa国际传媒 were unionized, 53.9聽per cent.
Mickleburgh said the influence and the extent of industrial union activism in sa国际传媒 has declined in recent years. Unions did not become unpopular, but the union workforce shrank as industrial companies scaled back. Free trade, automation and the modern movement of capital have cut back workers鈥� opportunities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much workers are leaving unions in the private sector,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just that there aren鈥檛 as many industrial workers anymore.鈥�
One of the last provincially significant actions for industrial unions in sa国际传媒 was Operation Solidarity in 1983. It was notable for its near-revolutionary joining of unions, community associations and rights advocacy groups.
Brought together to battle the Social Credit government of Bill Bennett and its attempts to enact a wide variety of anti-union and anti-rights bills, Operation Solidarity took the province to the brink of a general strike.
Union leaders, however, balked at the notion of a widespread walkout. Jack Munro, president of the loggers鈥� union, the IWA-sa国际传媒, and then vice-president of the sa国际传媒 Federation of Labour, flew to Bennett鈥檚 home in Kelowna and signed an accord calling off Operation Solidarity.
The government conceded and withdrew a few union-specific moves. But its broad-based campaign of cutbacks and deregulation went ahead, leaving a lingering sense of betrayal.
Since then, the largest union victories in sa国际传媒 have been fought out in the Supreme Court of sa国际传媒. In 2007, the Hospital Employees鈥� Union won a landmark victory when the court ruled collective bargaining is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 2016, sa国际传媒 teachers won a similar ruling.
But Mickleburgh said it鈥檚 significant both court victories involved public-sector unions instead of any from private industry.
Also significant is the 2014 election of Irene Lanzinger as president of the sa国际传媒 Federation of Labour. Lanzinger is the first woman to be elected to the post. The former head of the sa国际传媒 Teachers鈥� Federation, she is the first public-sector employee to head the provincial organization.
鈥淧ublic-sector unions are still strong, and they are the majority of the union movement now,鈥� said Mickleburgh.
But he said nobody in British Columbia should diminish the impact of industrial unions on the province today. Better working conditions, better overtime and holiday laws are all a result of union effort.
Mickleburgh said Victorians can still find little reminders of labour history. Swans Hotel, for example, is brewing and serving a commemorative beer named Thomas Uphill Amber Ale.
Uphill (1874-1962) was the longest serving MLA in sa国际传媒鈥檚 history, representing a Kootenay riding from 1920 to 1960. He was also a stout labour supporter and notably battled hard against Prohibition until it was repealed in 1921.
Look closely at the labels and posters for Thomas Uphill Amber Ale and you鈥檒l see tiny depictions of leaflets bearing words he first uttered in the sa国际传媒 legislature.
鈥淗ands off the workers鈥� beer.鈥�
Rod Mickleburgh will talk about his new book and the sa国际传媒 labour movement on Thursday, May 17, at the Bard and Banker, 1022 Government St., 7 - 9 p.m.
