Amid national railway work stoppages, Labour Day highlights Island’s intense labour history

In 1913, a strike of some 3,500 Island miners eventually escalated into August riots. Dunsmuir called in the militia; miners were targeted by enforcement from 1,500 soldiers along with mass evictions and arrests (250 in 1913) and the deportations of strikers (many Island miners were Chinese or Japanese).

"I object to all unions...They simply take the management of the mine...I want the management of my own works, and if I recognize the union, I cannot have that,” said Dunsmuir in a subsequent commission that reviewed the strikes.

The strike lost steam in 1914 and was ultimately broken by the onset of the First World War. Union recognition eventually arrived in BC in the late 1930s.

The present day

Currently, collective bargaining governs many workplaces in the South Island, though it is less common in the region's service industry.

There have been a number of prominent local strikes in the recent years, from liquor stores to shipyards, although these Island labour disputes have of course been much less physical than those of over a century ago. A new strike could begin today; workers at James Bay’s Hotel Grand Pacific voted two weeks ago to strike of they were without a deal by Sept. 1.

One of the capital’s largest employment areas is provincial government work, where most workers are represented by the BCGEU (which has also expanded to include other fields, changing its G from “Government” to “General”).

Striking workers at the Esquimalt Graving Docks last spring. Photo: Ryan Hook / Capital Daily

CUPE Local 50 is the largest union in ViIctoria and represents City of Victoria workers (inside and outside), Victoria Police Board, BCSPCA Victoria Branch, Downtown Victoria Business Association, Gorge Vale Golf Club, Royal Oak Burial Park, City of Langford (RCMP Support Services) and the United Way of Greater Victoria.

CUPE first came into being in 1918 as the Civic Employees Association, one year before the famous 1919 Winnipeg General strike when 30,000 workers walked off their jobs. But Canada has not seen a simultaneous nationwide strike at both national railways since 1950.

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Will recent rail strikes affect the Island?

For the CRD on Vancouver Island, particularly susceptible to supply chain disruptions—where inflation is driving construction costs and the cost of living is alarmingly high, the rail stoppage is unwelcome news.

This latest disruption evokes  Covid-era supply chain breakdowns and the impacts of the 2020 First Nations rail solidarity blockades with Wet’suwet’ten opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Economists estimate those actions by First Nations across the country put a $275 million dent in the economy every day.

In previous disruptions, including flooding on the Malahat in November of 2021, getting consumer goods and, in particular, car stock and car parts on the Island was challenging.

Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC sees the warning light. “New vehicle inventories are already fairly tight for various manufacturers and dealers, and a rail strike has the potential to effectively turn the tap off. It means that consumers who have ordered vehicles or dealers who are in the process of ordering vehicles won’t be seeing them anytime soon,” he said.

BC’s business community is urging Ottawa to step in to end the rail stoppage currently paralyzing the movement of goods and people throughout the country.

“Tens of thousands of workers across multiple sectors could see their jobs and incomes affected as plants shut down or products have no place to go,” Vancouver Board of Trade CEO Bridgette Anderson said. “The cost of goods will rise, hitting Canadians already struggling with the effects of inflation.”

Almost everything in Canada is brought to consumers by rail in Canada. Our rail network moves $380 billion dollars of consumer goods per year $1billion per day.

The high-impact work stoppage prompted Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to refer the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. The CIRB is an independent tribunal that decides complaints, applications and appeals to allegations of non-compliance with labour, occupational health and safety and employment laws in federally regulated workplaces.

On Friday, the Teamsters launched an appeal against the move.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Teamsters said it and the two railways had completed a nine-hour hearing before the CIRB during which the union argued MacKinnon did not have the "absolute power" to end a job action, and was denying its 9,300 workers the right to strike and collectively bargain.

In the same statement, Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference warned the actions set a “dangerous precedent” that threatens workers’ constitutional right to collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a mediated process where unions, on behalf of workers, negotiate their contractual terms of employment such as salary, benefits, hours, leave, health and safety policies.

“Without it, unions lose leverage to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” Boucher said.

Comments he made in Calgary on Friday reveal Teamsters president François Laporte’s opposition to the arbitration process. “We don’t believe [in letting] a third party decide our working conditions. We believe in fair and honest bargaining. We will use our constitutional right,” he said, referring to the freedom of association enshrined in section 2(d) of the Constitution. Other sticking-points for the Teamsters include workplace safety, how much rest crews get as they move goods across the country, and enforced relocations of employees

In 1913, a strike of some 3,500 Island miners eventually escalated into August riots. Dunsmuir called in the militia; miners were targeted by enforcement from 1,500 soldiers along with mass evictions and arrests (250 in 1913) and the deportations of strikers (many Island miners were Chinese or Japanese).

"I object to all unions...They simply take the management of the mine...I want the management of my own works, and if I recognize the union, I cannot have that,” said Dunsmuir in a subsequent commission that reviewed the strikes.

The strike lost steam in 1914 and was ultimately broken by the onset of the First World War. Union recognition eventually arrived in BC in the late 1930s.

The present day

Currently, collective bargaining governs many workplaces in the South Island, though it is less common in the region's service industry.

There have been a number of prominent local strikes in the recent years, from liquor stores to shipyards, although these Island labour disputes have of course been much less physical than those of over a century ago. A new strike could begin today; workers at James Bay’s Hotel Grand Pacific voted two weeks ago to strike of they were without a deal by Sept. 1.

One of the capital’s largest employment areas is provincial government work, where most workers are represented by the BCGEU (which has also expanded to include other fields, changing its G from “Government” to “General”).

Striking workers at the Esquimalt Graving Docks last spring. Photo: Ryan Hook / Capital Daily

CUPE Local 50 is the largest union in ViIctoria and represents City of Victoria workers (inside and outside), Victoria Police Board, BCSPCA Victoria Branch, Downtown Victoria Business Association, Gorge Vale Golf Club, Royal Oak Burial Park, City of Langford (RCMP Support Services) and the United Way of Greater Victoria.

CUPE first came into being in 1918 as the Civic Employees Association, one year before the famous 1919 Winnipeg General strike when 30,000 workers walked off their jobs. But Canada has not seen a simultaneous nationwide strike at both national railways since 1950.

‍

Will recent rail strikes affect the Island?

For the CRD on Vancouver Island, particularly susceptible to supply chain disruptions—where inflation is driving construction costs and the cost of living is alarmingly high, the rail stoppage is unwelcome news.

This latest disruption evokes  Covid-era supply chain breakdowns and the impacts of the 2020 First Nations rail solidarity blockades with Wet’suwet’ten opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Economists estimate those actions by First Nations across the country put a $275 million dent in the economy every day.

In previous disruptions, including flooding on the Malahat in November of 2021, getting consumer goods and, in particular, car stock and car parts on the Island was challenging.

Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of BC sees the warning light. “New vehicle inventories are already fairly tight for various manufacturers and dealers, and a rail strike has the potential to effectively turn the tap off. It means that consumers who have ordered vehicles or dealers who are in the process of ordering vehicles won’t be seeing them anytime soon,” he said.

BC’s business community is urging Ottawa to step in to end the rail stoppage currently paralyzing the movement of goods and people throughout the country.

“Tens of thousands of workers across multiple sectors could see their jobs and incomes affected as plants shut down or products have no place to go,” Vancouver Board of Trade CEO Bridgette Anderson said. “The cost of goods will rise, hitting Canadians already struggling with the effects of inflation.”

Almost everything in Canada is brought to consumers by rail in Canada. Our rail network moves $380 billion dollars of consumer goods per year $1billion per day.

The high-impact work stoppage prompted Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to refer the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code. The CIRB is an independent tribunal that decides complaints, applications and appeals to allegations of non-compliance with labour, occupational health and safety and employment laws in federally regulated workplaces.

On Friday, the Teamsters launched an appeal against the move.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Teamsters said it and the two railways had completed a nine-hour hearing before the CIRB during which the union argued MacKinnon did not have the "absolute power" to end a job action, and was denying its 9,300 workers the right to strike and collectively bargain.

In the same statement, Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference warned the actions set a “dangerous precedent” that threatens workers’ constitutional right to collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is a mediated process where unions, on behalf of workers, negotiate their contractual terms of employment such as salary, benefits, hours, leave, health and safety policies.

“Without it, unions lose leverage to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” Boucher said.

Comments he made in Calgary on Friday reveal Teamsters president François Laporte’s opposition to the arbitration process. “We don’t believe [in letting] a third party decide our working conditions. We believe in fair and honest bargaining. We will use our constitutional right,” he said, referring to the freedom of association enshrined in section 2(d) of the Constitution. Other sticking-points for the Teamsters include workplace safety, how much rest crews get as they move goods across the country, and enforced relocations of employees