Can regular people ever change the system? A small group of temporary foreign workers, backed by a determined union (LiUNA1611 ), took on their employer and won. Their fight changed things for…

Hear the story of 40 migrant tunnel workers who were paid less than their Canadian and European colleagues-until a BC union helped them fight back and win.

Learn about a rare folding fan holding signatures of roughly 35 Canadian volunteers who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War.

Download The Story of Ginger Goodwin (PDF)

Publication date: April 30, 2024 Podcast length: 30:05 Hosted by: Rod Mickleburgh Research and writing by: Patricia Wejr and Rod Mickleburgh Production by: John Mabbott Workers, mainly women, at…

Learn how the Mac-Paps, volunteer soldiers in Spain's fight against fascism, were received when they returned home to Vancouver.

Cassiar exposed residents to asbestos for 40 years. But little has been done to follow their health outcomes.

Explore Canadian archival films (1918-1929) and the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau's role in shaping cultural history. Discover how these films influenced public perceptions and complement other primar...

The hard-working women in the Okanagan Valley's bountiful fruit packing plants from the 1920s to the 1970s became known as the “Apple Box Belles”. While much has been written about Okanagan fruit-grow...

Learn about the beloved Black pioneer Abe Mortimer, lumber worker, union man, athlete, soldier, storyteller, and Hall of Famer.

Fred played an active role in the anti-globalization movement. He tells the story of the New Union Project and his role in it, which created the Unifor, largest private sector union in Canada, from…

Read about the one-day national general strike in 1976 when a million workers brought the country to a standstill.

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…

At 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,…

Nearly 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...

April 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…

As the Ironworkers bridge collapsed around him, Ken Johnstone stayed on the job and saved lives.

This 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…

As the Ironworkers bridge collapsed around him, Ken Johnstone stayed on the job and saved lives.

On 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.…

At 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,…

NANAIMO - In place at the Bowen Rd. cemetery for several months, a new memorial dedicated to one of the countr...

Sponsored by BC Labour Heritage Centre, Nanaimo Historical Society, BC Building Trades Council. Pay tribute to 23 workers whose deaths on October 17, 1951 are a stark reminder that there is always a h...

For most of the 20th century, garment workers—mostly women—sewed, pressed and wove fabric on factory assembly lines throughout the Lower Mainland, before the domestic industry began to decline with gl...

by Rod Mickleburgh Originally published in the Mickleblog August 2, 2018 At 12 o’clock sharp on Aug. 2, 1918 – one hundred years ago today –Vancouver transit operators stopped their streetcars in mid-...