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Sharon Yandle was born in 1941 in Vancouver, B.C. Raised in the East Side of Vancouver, Sharon spent the majority of her career as a freelance negotiator for various unions across the province, specializing in arbitration and "duty to accommodate". She also taught labour relations and collective bargaining for a time at the University of Victoria.

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…

Jackie Ainsworth was born in Ontario, attending a year at the University of Carlton before joining the Anti-War Movement and moving out west to Vancouver. She is a founding member of the Association of University and College Employees [AUCE] as well as United Bank Workers [UBW] Local 2 of the Service, Office and Retail Workers' Union of Canada [SORWUC].

Ray Haynes was born in Point Grey, Vancouver, BC in 1928. He was introduced to the labour movement through work at a sawmill

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.

John Burrows was born in 1954 in Victoria BC. His career started at Victoria Plywood where his interest in unions was quickly ignited. John soon transitioned to the City of Victoria, progressing over the years from a casual role to supervisor in the sanitation department. John was active in his union and was voted president of CUPE Local 50 in 1994, a position he still holds today. In this interview, John reflects on more than four decades in the labour movement. Championing fairness, Local…

"Sy Pederson was born into a logging family of fallers in Courtenay and followed the family tradition when he turned 21. Falling was a dangerous job and Sy recognized the hazard posed by the piecework system. He organized fallers in an illegal strike in 1972, despite union opposition, where they stayed home to successfully achieve a day rate system. Active in his union, the International Woodworkers of America (IWA), he became president of his local as well as of the labour council.

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John Bowman grew up in the north end of Winnipeg and went to the University of Winnipeg studying labour history and journalism. He became active in progressive issues. John edited the student union newspaper while taking a full course load. He later worked for CUP for a year. While editing the student newspaper at U of W, John participated in many picket lines at the Griffin Steel Foundry where the issue was the CAIMAW foundry workers opposing compulsory overtime. It was a long battle…

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…

BCGEU button for collective bargaining in 1982.

CUPW button regarding negotiations.

Button against making concessions in collective bargaining.

BCTF button advocating for good local collective bargaining.

Button advocating for productive collective bargaining.

Button advocating for returning to the bargaining table.