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April 2021 Newsletter
This newsletter is produced by the staff of the BC Labour Heritage Centre on behalf of our board of directors.
Labour History Photo of the Month
On April 4, 1981, members of the Hospital Employees' Union at Windermere Central Park Lodge, a private long-term care home in Vancouver, went on strike after 21 months of fruitless negotiations for a first contract and a ruling by the Labour Relations Board that the union could not seek arbitration to settle the dispute.

The local membership - almost entirely women of colour - voted 94% in favour of taking strike action, which resulted in 95 of 100 workers out on the line. The issue at hand was the owner's refusal to pay the standard wages and benefits paid in the healthcare industry. The "prevailing standard" was a minimum of $8/hour; Windermere's owner offered a measly $4.50.

Striking Windermere workers paid a visit to the downtown Vancouver headquarters of the corporate owners, openly accusing them of paying their non-white workers less than the standard rate paid to white workers.
The Guardian, April 1981 - Courtesy Hospital Employees' Union
Bea Zucco's Crusade
Produced in co-operation with BC's Knowledge Network, Bea Zucco is a 3-minute video that describes Zucco's 8-year crusade to have her husband's silicosis recognized as a work-related illness and to receive full coverage under Workers' Compensation.

Zucco's story raises important questions about the effect of work-related injuries and illness on families and communities, the effectiveness of Workers Compensation insurance programs, and how individuals can affect a change in government policy.

A lesson plan for teachers and instructors has been produced by the BC Labour Heritage Centre's Labour History Project to accompany the video.
Just released: Podcast Episode 7 tells the Bea Zucco story through music and archival recordings, with our knowledgeable host Rod Mickleburgh.
The Day of Mourning BC Schools Project goes virtual again in 2021. This is the 30th Anniversary of the National Day of Mourning, established in Canada in 1991. The topic of health and safety in the workplace is more relevant than ever for young workers in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century. Teachers and parents are encouraged to participate so young workers can learn about their health and safety rights at work. Downloads, lesson plans and videos are here: www.domschools.ca
COVID Chronicles: A Living History
We were excited to have our COVID Chronicles Project on the front page of the latest issue of Our Times Magazine. Our Times is an independant Canadian labour magazine. The story of our project is written by retired Vancouver teacher Janet Nicol with photographs by Joshua Berson.
NEW BLOG POST:
110 years since the Battle of Kelly's Cut
Learn what happened in Prince Rupert in 1911 when private contractors McInnis and Kelly managed to hire a scab roadwork crew after the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) called several hundred construction members out on strike. "The Battle of Kelly's Cut" was researched and written by Rod Mickleburgh and Bailey Garden.
Prince Rupert City & Regional Archives, Fred Button fonds, 2009-004-GlassPlate002

Ken's Book Picks for April

submitted by BC Labour Heritage Centre's Ken Novakowski.
The KKK was introduced into Canada by Americans coming across from the United States, so the most significant elements of the racist group were organized in BC, Ontario and New Brunswick. In those three provinces there were actually members of the provincial legislatures who were members. The heyday of their experience was in the 1920s and 30s. After a nearly 50 year absence from a public presence, the KKK appeared again in Canada in the 1980s and 90s. The KKK in Canada directed their hatred at Black Canadians, Asian Canadians, Jews, Catholics, other immigrant minorities, Indigenous peoples, and trade unions.
 
Amongst the bright and progressive medical and health care advice that the Tommy Douglas government brought together after his election in 1944, there was a consensus that the health care centre model should form the basis of socialized medicine in Saskatchewan.  However, from the beginning, as had happened in Britain, staunch resistance from the medical profession forced compromise upon decision makers in Saskatchewan.  It is an important part of Canada’s history because later that decade the federal government introduced socialized health care for the nation based on the Saskatchewan model.
 
JUST ANNOUNCED: Spanish Civil War
Virtual Tour

Historian Nick Lloyd has created a 2-part ‘virtual tour’ focussing on the trade union movement in the Spanish Civil War and after, through to about the time of the Atocha Massacre in 1977.  Dates for the tours are: Part 1 on 24 April and Part 2 on 8 May.  Both tours will start at 8 am (PDT) and run for roughly two hours. Email for more information and tickets.
 
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The BC Labour Heritage Centre office is located on the ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓ ̓qəmin̓ əm̓ and Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh speaking peoples.
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