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Carmela Allevato was born in a small town in Southern Italy in 1962. Her family emigrated to Canada when she was 11 years old and settled in Toronto where her parents worked in manufacturing and factory jobs. After graduating high school, she went to the University of Toronto, and then studied law at the University of British Columbia. She became active in B.C. politics when Rosemary Brown ran for the leadership of the NDP in 1972. Carmela was called to the bar in 1979. By this time, she was…

Rod Hiebert became President of the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) in 1991. During his time as a union leader he was present for many pivotal issues affecting members, including pension funds, technological change and pay equity. He discusses the union's decision to intervene with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) when BC Telephone Company applied for a rate increase. The TWU employed many creative strategies including the 'un-strike', a 'super…

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…

Marion Pollack and Micki McCune both started working for Canada Post as mail sorters in the 1970s. While both were initially impressed with the union wages they were earning, they soon became union activists, given the working conditions at Canada Post. These included sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, sexism, racism, and arbitrary and unfair management. As feminists, they advocated for the formation of women's committees in unions and engaged in many campaigns to advance the…

Colleen Jordan was born and raised in southern Alberta. Through her early jobs she saw several examples where union members made more money than non-union, but where men were included in the unions and women were excluded. She studied at the University of Alberta where she got involved in anti-apartheid protests. Colleen turned down a fine arts scholarship, got married and moved to back to B.C. She went to UBC to qualify as a school librarian and ended up working at the Burnaby School Board…

Geoff grew up in Toronto and Ottawa and had a comfortable middle class upbringing. He became interested in left wing politics when he attended the University of Toronto, where he worked on the university paper and at the student radio station.

Geoff moved to British Columbia in 1974. In 1978 he became the editor of The Fisherman, a newspaper published by the UFAWU (United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union). He held that job for 12 years. In the interview, Geoff discusses the…

David Fairey's parents were working class immigrants from the U.K. His father was a carpenter and cabinet maker and his mother worked in domestic service, sewing at home, and in furniture and aircraft factories. After he finished high school, David started an apprenticeship in Toronto as a wood pattern maker in a medium-sized heavy manufacturing plant.

During his apprenticeship, he had his first experiences with unions. He became active in Local 28 of the International Molders and…

Muriel Overgaard was born in Elbow, Saskatchewan in 1920. She went on to become the first female President of CUPE BC, serving from 1976-1980, and ran as an MLA for the NDP. She played a significant role in establishing CUPE's Women's Committee, the first for any BC union, and in the establishment of the municipal pension plan.

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].

Bernice Kirk began her union career at the Coquitlam School Board, and became the Secretary-Treasurer and President of CUPE BC, as well as a Vice President of the National CUPE Board. She was a leader in the fight for pay equity for women workers and worked full-time for the union for 20 years. "It was a big part of my life, but I really liked what I was doing. I liked helping people. I appreciated the work that everyone did." Bernice Kirk passed away on May 5, 2022.

Brian Hamaguchi worked in fish canneries in the lower mainland and was a shop steward and executive member of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU). Previous generations of his family also worked in the fishing industry and were interned during the Second World War. He was also a director of the Gulf & Fraser Fishermen's Credit union for over 30 years.