A rare hand-painted fan donated to the Museum of Vancouver holds the signatures of roughly 35 Canadian volunteers who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) — most from British Columbia, and 13 of whom never came home. In this special episode of On the Line: BC's Labour History Podcast, retired labour lawyer and historian David Yorke traces the stories behind the names on the fan, from BC loggers and miners who joined the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion ("Mac-Paps") of the International Brigades, to the union movements of the Depression era that sent them to Spain, to the RCMP surveillance and decades-long fight for veteran recognition they faced on their return. Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh, and based upon an interview by Patricia Wejr and Donna Sacuta of the BC Labour Heritage Centre.

Topics covered: Spanish Civil War · Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion · Mac-Paps · International Brigades · BC labour history · Museum of Vancouver · anti-fascism · Great Depression · union history · Canadian volunteers in Spain

Host: Rod Mickleburgh

Research and writing: Patricia Wejr

Technician: John Mabbott

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:  "¡Ay Carmela!" (traditional) - Performed by Gómez Naharro

Sources: 

Wejr, Patricia and Donna Sacuta. (2026). Interview with David Yorke [Audio Recording]. BC Labour Heritage Centre.

 Liversedge, Ronald. Mac-Pap: Memoir of a Canadian in the Spanish Civil War. Edited by David Yorke. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2013. 

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On February 18, 1965, a massive avalanche struck the remote Granduc copper mine camp, north of Stewart, BC. Twenty-six of the 150 workers on site were killed, mostly members of Labourers' International Union Local 168. The slide destroyed bunkhouses, the cookhouse, and other facilities with devastating force, even rebounding off the valley floor.

The camp was fog-bound and isolated; an SOS was picked up by a ship in the Aleutian Islands, bringing in American Air Force helicopters. Survivors dug with makeshift tools, used sticks to probe for buried workers. One man was found alive after 79 hours buried under the snow, surviving in an air pocket.

A government investigation cleared the company of negligence; the mine eventually reopened and operated until 1984.

This episode features memories from survivors Vince Ready and Art Vibert, as well as music from Stompin' Tom Connors. 

Host: Rod Mickleburgh

Research and writing: Patricia Wejr

Technician: John Mabbott

 Voice of Art Vibert: John Mabbott 

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:  "How the Mountain Came Down" (1973) music and lyrics by Stompin' Tom Connors.

Episode Image: Ray Allan, Vancouver Sun.

Sources: 

Mickleburgh, Rod and Carmela Allevato. (2024). Interview with Vince Ready [Audio Recording]. BC Labour Heritage Centre https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/collection/vince-ready-interview-labour-arbitrator-mediator/

Disasters of the Century Season 7 Granduc Avalanche [Video Recording]. Copyright of Partners in Motion INC. https://youtu.be/7jZQxsL2C04?si=9AgWLsj18OylJLRL

RBCM@Home: Stewart Museum (2020) [Video Recording]. Royal BC Museum. https://youtu.be/iEXrCBrxzcY?si=mfFYWASxUybd5z0h

Vibert, Art. A Granduc Story. A personal travel diary to Granduc Mines. https://stewartbc.com/page99.html

Lundberg, Murray. Death Came Silently: the Granduc Mine Disaster
Stewart, BC. https://explorenorth.com/library/yafeatures/granduc.html

Cobb, Michael. (1965 February 22). Weary Eyes Tell Story of Death. The Vancouver Sun.

Porter, Bob.  (1965 February 22) Man Frozen White in Granduc Ordeal. The Vancouver Sun.

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For almost five decades Syd Thompson (1914-1992) was a formidable force in BC’s labour movement. President of the large Vancouver local of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) and the Vancouver and District Labour Council, Thompson didn’t often mince words or offer subtle opinions. When he spoke, people listened — they had no choice.

This podcast episode pulls from two recorded interviews with Syd Thompson in which he traces his experiences in the Great Depression, including periods he spent in jail for his efforts to organize relief camp workers. He took that fighting spirit to the bargaining table with leaders of BC's forestry companies.

Explicit language.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:  

"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" music and lyrics by Gorney, Jay, and E.Y. Harburg (1932), performed by Bing Crosby. 

"Roll the Union On", music and lyrics by John Handcox and Lee Hays, performed by The Almanac Singers With Pete Seeger (1955).

Sources: 

Bostwick, Colleen. (1978). Syd Thompson Interview [Audio Recording]. Royal BC Museum and Archives, Item AAAB3922 

Mickleburgh, Rod. (c. 1980). Interview with Syd Thompson [Audio Recording]. BC Labour Heritage Centre Archives (2024.1.6)

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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-growing, the early union history has barely been mentioned. In this episode we hear from Alma Faulds and Lydia Bastian, two fruit packers who were active in their unions, the United Packinghouse Workers and the Fruit and Vegetable Workers. They discuss the hard seasonal work, long hours, occupational disease and accidents they endured. Faulds worked 35 seasons in the packing plants, sitting on the union executive and later becoming union business agent. Stories of union battles and workplace solidarity combined with a performance of Apple Box Belles, by Tiller's Folly, makes a compelling episode documenting their legacy.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music: 

“Apple Box Belles”, music and lyrics by Bruce Coughlan, performed by Tiller's Folly, 2025. https://youtu.be/5xZ9LgWLQKk?si=WAyDyBfitam3r_7-

Sources:

Apple Box Belles – A Colourful Tale from British Columbia’s Fruit Culture retrieved at https://stirringupghosts.ca/apple-box-belles

October 28, 1937. “Mrs. Isobel Stillingfleet Awarded First Honours in Packing Competition” Kelowna Courier.

Community Stories: Applebox Belles: The Women of Lake Country’s Packinghouses – an exhibit produced by the Lake Country Museum & Archives retrieved at https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/applebox-belles/story/71-2/

Research and writing by Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

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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 globalization. This episode features an interview with Anne Marshall, a garment worker who became an organizer and business agent for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) in Vancouver beginning in the 1940s. We also hear from Esther Peters who worked at Vancouver's West Coast Woolen Mills. She became a shop steward and then president of the Textile Workers Industrial Union of BC. 

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music: 

“Look for the Union Label”, lyrics by Paula Green, music by Malcolm Dodds. International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, 1975. https://all-together-now.com/story/the-ilgwu-in-canada/

"Bread and Roses" (traditional) - performed by So-So-So Solidarite, Justice! (Compact Disc). Canadian Union of Postal Workers, n.d.

Sources:

Anne Marshall. Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women's Labour History Project. 1979.  Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives. 

Esther Peters. Video interview by Geoff Peters. 1981. (personal collection)

Cornell University IRL School The ILGWU in Canada. The Kheel Center ILGWU Collection. https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/announcements/27.html

Research and writing by Natasha Fairweather and Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

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This podcast episode tells the story of the "conductorettes" - the women who worked as streetcar conductors in Vancouver during World War II when many men were overseas fighting fascism. The conductorettes were part of a strong union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which ensured they had the same rights, privileges, and wages as the men. The union played an important role in supporting the women, including helping one get her job back after she was fired for becoming pregnant.

Featured are interviews with three former conductorettes - Pearl Wattum, Vilma Westerholm, and Edra McLeod - who describe their experiences on the job, including the challenges they faced, such as dealing with unruly passengers and the close supervision by company supervisors. 

The podcast also provides historical context on the streetcar system in Vancouver, the role of unions, and the transition to buses and trolleybuses that eventually replaced the streetcars. 

The episode highlights the important contributions these women made to keeping the city's transit system running during a critical time, and how their experiences shed light on the changing role of women in the workforce during the war years.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music: 

"I'm a TTC Skidaddler," written and performed by Stompin' Tom Connors, Bud the Spud and Other Favourites (1970)

"The Trolley Song," Judy Garland, from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Episode photo:

Greta Vesterback selling tickets for B.C. Electric Railway, 1946. Courtesy Rod Mickleburgh.

Sources:

Amalgamated Transit Union, a history (n.d.), accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.atu.org/downloadable-asset/history-of-atu.pdf

TransLink, "The Conductorettes: The first women to drive transit in Vancouver," The Buzzer Blog, July 16, 2015, https://buzzer.translink.ca/2015/07/the-conductorettes-the-first-women-to-drive-transit-in-vancouver-2/. 

Pearl Berrington (Wattum). Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Pearl Barrington (Wattum). Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women’s Labour History Project. 1982. Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives.

Edra McLeod. Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Edra McLeod. Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women’s Labour History Project. 1979. Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives.

Vilma Jensine Westerholm. Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Written and researched by Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

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Using interviews from the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre's Oral History Project, the Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project, and a retired BCGEU (BC General Services Union) activist, this episode tells the impressive story of international solidarity by B.C. union members who worked tirelessly in support of those fighting to end South Africa’s heinous apartheid system. Starting in 1976, until the first free election in 1994, actions by citizens and labour shaped attitudes and responses to apartheid that resonate decades later. Featured are interviews with Jef Keighley, Cathy Walker, Colleen Jordan and Randy Pearson, along with music from the Total Experience Gospel Choir and Solidarity Notes Labour Choir.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music: 

 Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", South African National Anthem, adopted 1997. Performed by Solidarity Notes Labour Choir (2016). 

“Shine” performed by the Total Experience Gospel Choir. “Patrinell: The Story of the Total Experience Gospel Choir" Official documentary Trailer #1 (2017)" https://youtu.be/5MvvIr_ScQw?si=4GdQcqpaq4TUibQY

Sources:

Ontario Federation of Labour. 30 April 2024. "Two Canadians to receive prestigious order from South African government, for the first time since Brian Mulroney." [Press Release] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/30/2872225/0/en/Two-Canadians-to-receive-prestigious-order-from-South-African-government-for-the-first-time-since-Brian-Mulroney.html

“Unions’ actions to embargo apartheid.” Pacific Tribune. 5 March 1986. 16.

Colleen Jordan. Interview by Keith Reynolds. 22 June 2023. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/oral-history/colleen-jordan/

Randy Pearson. Interview by Patricia Wejr. 17 February 2025.

Jef Keighley. Interview by Doug Miller and Jane Armstrong, Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project. 26 January 2022. Uploaded by SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive, 12 March 2023. https://youtu.be/JO3oabUZDTY?si=Pi7IJiW5NVxvkpR9

Cathy Walker. Interview by Doug Miller, Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project. n.d. Uploaded by SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive, 13 March 2023.
https://youtu.be/ljVjfVkNZvk?si=1vXNCS9Gr_eKzlTI

SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive https://www.sactusolidarityalumniarchive.org/

Written and researched by Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

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On June 3, 1976 simmering discontent at the Alcan smelter in the northern B.C. community of Kitimat turned into a full-scale revolt. Some members of independent union CASAW (Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers) staged a wildcat strike after being pushed too far by the company. They were soon joined by 1,800 others. Twice the union members rejected their executive’s recommendation to return to work.  150 RCMP officers in riot gear and flanked by dogs and shotguns arrested the union’s leaders, charges were laid and fines levied against the union. It was the first major job action in Canada against federal wage controls, and left the community bitterly divided, even decades later.

Featured in this episode is vintage archival recordings with Jim Sinclair, Jim Brisebois and Rod Mickleburgh. You will also hear "Something Good Worth Fighting For", an original song written by Bill Hood and performed by the Gram Partisans.

A wildcat strike is a strike action undertaken by unionized workers without union leadership's authorization, support, or approval.

Music:

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode song: "Something Good Worth Fighting For", written and performed by Bill Hood and the Gram Partisans, 2024. https://youtu.be/Jw0uXmIT624

Sources:

Peter Burton. Interview by Ken Novakowski. 28 November 2016. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/oral-history/peter-burton/

"Company Towns on Strike Kitimat Part 1." Audio recording, undated. Vancouver Co-op Radio. Allen Seager Fonds, B.C. Labour Heritage Centre. 

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In Episode 27, we brought you stories from women who worked in the province's once numerous canneries and fish processing plants. For some, this was a stepping stone to working on the fish boats. In Episode 28, we hear from Barbara Stevens, whose parents were both union activists in the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU). Homer Stevens was jailed in 1967 for defying a court injunction during the Prince Rupert trawl fishermen’s strike. Barbara Stevens was an experienced hand in the fishing industry and an activist in her own right. Also featured is longtime Prince Rupert resident Joy Thorkelson, who held many positions in the UFAWU over the years, including President. 

 Music:

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode songs: "
Bossin, Bob. "What Can One Woman Do?" Performed by Stringband, sung by Mary-Lynn Hammond, 1983.

Hewison, George. "Song of the Sockeye." George Hewison, 1982.

Sources:

Barbara Stevens. Interview by Patricia Wejr. 26 June 2024.

Joy Thorkelson. Interviews by B.C. Labour Heritage Centre Oral History Project. 6 September 2019 and 19 September 2019. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/oral-history/joy-thorkelson/

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This is the first of a two-part series on the role of women in BC ‘s once thriving fishing industry. This episode hears from women who worked in the fish canneries that once lined the west coast of BC. They bring to life a time when BC fish helped feed the nation and many parts of the world. Included are recordings of an indigenous woman who worked in canneries along the Skeena River from the age of 10. We also meet Josephine Charlie of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), interviewed in 1979. She and her husband travelled to Knights Inlet to fish and work in the canneries. We are also joined by Jackie Campbell, a long-time UFAWU activist who describes the fight to end two-tier gendered wages.  

 Music:

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode song: "Canning Salmon" by Linda Chobotuck, 1985. Performed by Fraser Union, 2009.

Sources:
Backhouse, Frances. "The last BC Cannery Standing - and Why it Matters", The Tyee. 22 August 2018. https://thetyee.ca/Solutions/2018/08/22/Last-BC-Cannery-Standing/

B.C. Labour Heritage Centre (2014). "Canning Salmon." https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/canning/

"Early B.C. Coast Salmon Cannery Workers." Audio recording, undated. Vancouver Co-op Radio. Allen Seager Fonds, B.C. Labour Heritage Centre.

Josephine Charlie interview,  Simon Fraser University Archives. Women's Labour History collection, F-67-2-0-0-0-8, Sara Diamond interviewer, 1979. https://atom.archives.sfu.ca/f-67-2-0-0-0-8

Jackie Campbell. Interview by Patricia Wejr. 13 June 2024.

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