Labour History and Archives

The fonds consists of minutes, correspondence, reports, legal documents, financial records, plans, sound recordings, published and printed material generated by the UFAWU, its locals and predecessor organizations including the United Fishermen's Federal Union, the Pacific Coast Fishermen's Union, and the Fish, Cannery and Reduction Plant and Allied Workers Union, as well as office files from former Presidents William Rigby, Homer Stevens, and Jack Nichols.

The Fisherman Publishing Society was formed in 1937 to publish The Fisherman, a bi-weekly newspaper sponsored by the Salmon Purse Seiners Union and the Pacific Coast Fishermen's Union. The newspaper chronicled industry events and promoted unity among West Coast fishermen. The fonds consists of correspondence, a scrapbook, minutes, historical collections including ships' logs and the Harry Allison papers. Fonds includes photographs of the Fisherman Publishing Society, depicting labour and union activity, fish and fishing vessels, and the men and women who worked in the fishing industry.

George North (1920-1990) was editor of The Fisherman, the newspaper of the United Fisherman and Alllied Workers Union (UFAWU), for twenty-two years from 1946 until 1968. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, North Returned in 1968 in order to obtain a teaching qualification. North taught in Prince George in the early 1970s, becoming a British Columbia Teachers' Federation staff member in 1975. Between the years 1980 and 1990 North was head of the Federation's Bargaining Division. North was UFAWU Union Information Officer in June '67, and author of A Ripple, A Wave (1974), a UFAWU history of the Labour Movement in the local fishing industry. North also worked on the Native Voice, organ of the Native Brotherhood of BritishColumbia. Fonds consists of George North's research material on the fishing industry in British Columbia, and on the organization of the fishermen's labour unions. The research material includes letters inward and outward concerning his commission by the UFAWU ; his early manuscript, later typescripts, and edited typescripts for the book A Ripple, A Wave; original and photocopied records of Inverness Cannery ; extensive notes taken on the above records and local newspapers . Other material relates to his teacher training at the University of British Columbia. There is also a collection of published material.

Homer Stevens was born on August 2, 1923, at Port Guichon, near Ladner, British Columbia. He began fishing on the Fraser River as early as 1936, at 13 years old. He began work as a full-time union organizer for the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union in 1946, and was elected secretary-treasurer of that organization two years later, a position he held until 1970. Stevens was known for his steadfast role in this union, as well as for his affiliation with the Communist Party of Canada, and he was heavily involved in the fisheries on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. In 1967 he was prosecuted for criminal contempt of court while involved in a labour dispute in Prince Rupert, and subsequently spent a year incarcerated at the Mt. Thurston Prison Camp in Chilliwack, alongside UFAWU president Steve Stavenes. Stevens was later elected president himself, although he stepped down from that position in 1977, and returned to the life of a fisherman. Homer Stevens married Grace, his wife of 54 years, in 1948 and together they had four children, a daughter named Barbara and three sons named Bruce, John and Nick. Homer died in October 2002 at the age of 79. The fonds consists of textual materials, photographs, slides, negatives, sound recordings and memorabilia created and collected during Homer Stevens career with the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU), as well as in his personal life. The fonds has been arranged into six series according to subject matter: Personal, UFAWU, Mt. Thurston Prison Camp, Printed Materials, Ephemera and Memorabilia, and Newspaper Clippings.

The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union in B.C. experienced a long transition into its present administration. The International Longshoremen's Association organized locals in Prince Rupert and Victoria in 1910 and in Vancouver in 1912. The Vancouver and Prince Rupert locals disbanded in 1925 and the Vancouver and District Waterfront Association was formed. In the 1930s, longshoremen were affiliated with the Vancouver Waterfront Worker's Association and several other organizations. The permanent establishment of the ILWU occurred in 1944. Within one year the B.C. locals were brought into a district council. The Canadian Area of the ILWU was established as an autonomous body in 1959.

In 1945, the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Union of Canada, Local No. 1, the Dock and Shipyard Workers Union, and the Shipwrights, Joiners and Calkers Industrial Union, Local No. 1 joined together to form the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union, Local No. 1. The fonds consists of minutes for the Boilermakers' and Iron Shipbuilders' Union of Canada, Local No. 1 (1943-45) and Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union, Local No. 1 (1945-77), general correspondence (1956-68), membership correspondence (1960-68), Workmen's Compensation records (1956-75), photographs, transcripts of interviews with pioneer members of the Union, printed material, and draft manuscript for "A History of Shipbuilding in British Columbia".

The Women's Auxiliary of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union served Sointula (Malcolm Island) as a community service group.The fonds consists of account books (1960-1968), bills and receipts, and banking records of the auxiliary.