About this Collection
The Service, Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada (SORWUC) was an independent union, established in 1972 by a Founding Convention of 24 women, with the intention of representing and organizing occupations that were not included in the traditional trade unions of the time. The union developed out of the Working Women’s Association, an organization that sought to provide support to the adversities facing working women, such as obtaining equal pay, day care provision, and job security. SORWUC was an unaffiliated, feminist, member-controlled union, and their constitution stated their aims as being: to bargain collectively on behalf of members; to improve working conditions; and to help provide job security. By 1976, SORWUC had organized four day care centres, five social service units, one legal office, one student office, and a tuxedo rental store. SORWUC also began organizing bank workers in 1975 and eventually established a specific chapter for the workers in the finance industry, Local 2, United Bank Workers, and later, Local 4, Bank and Finance Workers. The union was financially supported by its members and by donations from other unions and organizations, and ran its offices on a volunteer basis. 
The majority of the workers SORWUC organized were women, and their legal battles centered around struggles for equal pay, maternity leave, living wages, legislation against sexual harassment, and gender and race based discrimination in the workplace. SORWUC gained public attention in 1978 when the union became involved in the Muckamuck Restaurant strike that developed into a long dispute between workers and management which was never resolved.While SORWUC was a national union, it was primarily active in British Columbia, its place of origin and the location of its headquarters. After over a decade of organizing, SORWUC disbanded in 1986 due to lack of funds and the prevalence of more nationally focused unions.
Image source: [Creator unknown]. (1977, December 1). Kinesis, December 1977 [Periodicals]. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0045521
Image source: [Creator unknown]. (1977, January 1). Kinesis, January 1977 [Periodicals]. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0045518
Archival Collections
- Service, Office, and Retail Workers Union of Canada fondsThis fonds contains records of the Service, Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada (SORWUC) from their active life between 1972 and 1986. The records pertain to the functioning of the National Headquarters, Local sections and the union as a whole within its communities. The content of the records is primarily focused in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, but the union's influence reaches a national level including activity in the prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. While the central concern of SORWUC was directly related to unionization, the records also concern feminist activity and the pursuance of equal rights for women in society. The material is in the form of correspondence, financial records and statements, various publications, and photographs.
- Service, Office, Retail Workers Union of Canada, Locals 2 & 4 fondsThe fonds consists of records related to the Service, Office, and Retail Workers Union of Canada’s (SORWUC’s) Local 2, the United Bank Workers (UBW), and Local 4 (Bank and Finance Workers Union) administrative activities, organizing endeavours and legal proceedings. Many records are also related to SORWUC’s national activities as a trade union. These activities include organization and certification of new bargaining units, filing unfair labour practices on behalf of union members, pamphleting and raising funds for the union as a whole, organizing strikes, and fighting court battles for the right to organize in new sectors, such as the banks. Additionally, SORWUC kept various reference materials on topics related to feminism and the rights of laborers.
- Helen Potrebanko fondsHelen Potrebenko was born June 21, 1940 on a farm in Woking, Alberta. She moved to Vancouver in order to attend university and with the intention of becoming a teacher, but instead went on to earn a sociology degree. She held various jobs including taxi driver, lab technician, office temp, legal secretary, and bookkeeper, but is best known as a published author. Her early writing appeared in "Pedestal," Canada's first women's liberation newspaper, and she has published numerous books, including short stories, poems, plays, and novels. Considered "one of Vancouver's most uncompromising feminist writers," and a self-described "working-class feminist," Potrebenko deals primarily with the realities and challenges faced by working-class women in the 1970s and 1980s. Her second book, "No Streets of Gold" (1977) is a social history of Ukrainians in Alberta. Potrebenko was also very involved with labour activism and unions, particularly with SORWUC (the Service, Office, and Retail Workers' Union of Canada). She participated in meetings and picket lines, including the protest to obtain a first contract by workers of the Muckamuck restaurant on Davie Street, Vancouver. These issues and events also feature prominently in some of her work. Fonds consists primarily of correspondence, published materials, and other documentation related to Potrebenko's writing career and publications. Also included are materials she accumulated in relation to her involvement with local labour activism.
- Jean Rands fondsJean Rands was raised in Saskatchewan in the 1950s. Her parents, Stan Rands and Doris Rands (née Fraser), were both prominent figures in social activist circles in the province. Jean was politically and socially engaged from an early age: a member of the Young Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), she regularly participated in peace marches and joined picket lines in support of striking workers during her school years. In 1968, at age 19, Jean relocated to Vancouver, and began work as a typesetter for the student newspaper at Simon Fraser University. She became involved with the SFU Women’s Caucus, and grew increasingly active in feminist labour organizing, especially in sectors with high participation of women workers which the Canadian labour movement had historically neglected. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Jean was active as a labour organizer, particularly with SORWUC (the Service, Office, and Retail Workers’ Union of Canada) and several of its local chapters. She was a founding member of both AUCE (Association of University and College Employees) and SORWUC, and served in executive positions in both organizations. She maintained a lifelong interest and commitment to labour and feminist issues, which are reflected in her speaking and writing.
Supplementary Material
Sisters and Solidarity by Call Number: HD6079.2.C2 W448 1993ISBN: 1550770454Publication Date: 1993-04-02Sisters & Solidarity provides a clear and well-researched overview of the position of women in relation to the labour movement across Canada. After surveying the development of the labour movement at the turn of the century, the author traces the increasing influence of women members in the Canadian labour movement. Sisters & Solidarity considers not only what unions have negotiated with employers, but the position of women inside the union movement itself. Based on interviews with unions and labour centrals across the country, Julie White examines the representation of women in union executives, committees, conventions and staff. She describes the development of women's committees and examines the responses of unions to demands for change concerning family responsibilities, harassment, and union education. Using new data the author analyzes who are the unorganized, where they work, and why it is difficult to organize them. Three case studies examine the attempts to unionize homeworkers and cleaners and new labour relations legislation in Ontario. Sisters & Solidarity also considers the position of racial minorities, disabled persons and gays and lesbians in the Canadian union movement and the steps unions and labour centrals have taken to meet the needs of these workers.
Drawn to Change: Graphic Histories of Working-class struggle by Call Number: HD8104 .D73 2016ISBN: 9781771132572Publication Date: 2016
An Account to Settle by Call Number: RBSC-ARC-1667:NorthVancouver-1965ISBN: 0889740127Publication Date: 1979-01-01
Open Collections
Image source: (1977, January 1). Kinesis, January 1977 [Periodicals]. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0045518