Dock workers were once segregated by race. It took forward-thinking individuals to advocate for the solidarity characteristic of unions today
The people keeping the North Shore’s busy shipping industry afloat weren’t always the united labour force we know today.
At the time, management stratified longshore workers along racial lines, explains Georgia Twiss, archives attendant at MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver.White workers were separated from the Indigenous longshoremen, who were grouped in with Chinese, Chilean and Hawaiian labourers. Among this segregated group was St. John, a charismatic Black immigrant who was known for being scholarly and a life-long union man.
Known as the “Bows and Arrows,” the union met on the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw reserve in North Vancouver. While the group only lasted a year, it was highly influential in the formation of other unions later on, and in the political careers of those involved. Andy Paull, Joe Capilano and Dan George were among the longshoremen, and would all play central roles in their respective Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nation governments.
However, the Canadian government passed legislation during the Second World War that forced employers to negotiate with their workers. And in 1944, the Vancouver Waterfront Workers Association voted to join the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 7,200 members in B.C. today.
As a shipbuilder and later a columnist, Wilmot would continue to spread his ideas, notably as part of his membership with the Boilermakers, a union known for its progressive and inclusive policies compared to other organizations. The Sheetmetal Workers Union, for example, accepted women members, but they weren’t allowed to vote, whereas all members were allowed to vote in the Boilermakers, regardless of race or gender, said Andrew Hildred, volunteer co-ordinator at MONOVA.
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