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Henry van der Wiel first came to Prince Rupert in 1963 to work on a fish boat, and relocated permanently in 1966. He eventually bought his own gillnetter. When he became a member of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU) he had never belonged to a union before. He had been fired from a job in Houston, B.C. for trying to organize a union at the sawmill where he worked. Henry sat on the UFAWU General Executive Board for many years, and was also an organizer for the union for a…

Bill Smith was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and grew up in Dallas, Texas. He moved to British Columbia in 1970 and subsequently spent more than 40 years working as a commercial fisherman in Prince Rupert and the North Coast. In this interview, he discusses his early years in the industry when it was still booming and his later years when the industry was in decline.

George Hewison grew up in Campbell River where he learned his unionism and politics at "the kitchen table" during the Cold War years. He was an organizer and executive member of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU) for many decades. He traces his involvement in many disputes and policy issues including the 1967 Prince Rupert strike, jailings of union leaders, injunctions, organizing on the East Coast, fishery policy and Combines investigations. Hewison was introduced to…

In this 1.5 hr conversation, Rod Mickleburgh and Donna Sacuta interview Joy Thorkelson. Joy is a resident of Prince Rupert and held positions as organizer and president of the UFAWU (United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union). Joy describes how she came to Prince Rupert, some of what she experienced as a shoreworker doing multiple types of jobs in the canneries and her evolution as a labour activist. Throughout, her love of the fishing industry comes through clearly as she recounts wonderful…

In a follow-up interview, Joy Thorkelson, President of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, speaks to Rod Mickelburgh and Donna Sacuta as she continues to recall the issues and actions taken by West Coast unions in the fishing industry. She begins by discussing the many devastating impacts of the Mifflin Plan on the fishing industry and on the unions that had long-dominated the industry, as the numbers of fishers and boats steadily decrease and processing jobs have almost…