Search Content

This is a secondary, follow-up interview with Ray Haynes. Ray provided the BCLHC with a number of materials (photos, newspaper articles, etc.) to digitize and archive, which much of this interview is based upon. In this interview, Ray reflects on his time at the BC Federation of Labour and tells stories about various characters, as well as detailing his activism in retirement.

John Shields was born and raised in New York City by Irish Catholic parents who were both union members. He pursued a life in the Catholic church clergy, but left after disagreement with the direction of the church. He moved to Vancouver and became a social worker, and continued his social activism, eventually becoming President of the B.C. Government Employees' Union from 1985- 1999. In this interview, Shields talks extensively about how his beliefs intersected with his union activity. He…

Peter Burton was born in Pembroke, Ontario, and worked for the Georgia Straight in Vancouver before going into the resource industry in northern BC. Peter was President of CASAW in 1976, when the Wildcat strike by Alcan smelter workers in Kitimat occurred in response to wage control legislation introduced by the federal government under Pierre Trudeau.

Born in 1932 in a small Saskatchewan town, Sheila Pither came to Vancouver with her mother after the death of her father. Sheila's husband was a millwright in Vancouver, and she became active in the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) Ladies' Auxiliary, where she learned about union politics. Sheila returned to school to obtain a teaching degree when her youngest son entered Grade One. She began her teaching career in Vancouver in 1967 at the age of 35. She worked in elementary…

In this interview, Bonnie Pearson talks about growing up in Saskatchewan and the early influence of her activist parents. Bonnie details her early union involvement as a national representative with CUPE in 1980s, the Devine government and privatization, her move to a job with HEU in Kelowna during a time of re-structuring and changes within the post-secondary and health care fields over the years.

She describes the struggle to gain a provincial agreement for college educators, with…