For most of the 20th century, garment workers—mostly women—sewed, pressed and wove fabric on factory assembly lines throughout the Lower Mainland, before the domestic industry began to decline with globalization. This episode features an interview with Anne Marshall, a garment worker who became an organizer and business agent for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) in Vancouver beginning in the 1940s. We also hear from Esther Peters who worked at Vancouver's West Coast Woolen Mills. She became a shop steward and then president of the Textile Workers Industrial Union of BC.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:

“Look for the Union Label”, lyrics by Paula Green, music by Malcolm Dodds. International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, 1975. https://all-together-now.com/story/the-ilgwu-in-canada/

"Bread and Roses" (traditional) - performed by So-So-So Solidarite, Justice! (Compact Disc). Canadian Union of Postal Workers, n.d.

Sources:

Anne Marshall. Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women's Labour History Project. 1979. Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives.

Esther Peters. Video interview by Geoff Peters. 1981. (personal collection)

Cornell University IRL School The ILGWU in Canada. The Kheel Center ILGWU Collection. https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/announcements/27.html

Research and writing by Natasha Fairweather and Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

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• Send your feedback info@labourheritagecentre.ca
• Thanks for listening!

This podcast episode tells the story of the "conductorettes" - the women who worked as streetcar conductors in Vancouver during World War II when many men were overseas fighting fascism. The conductorettes were part of a strong union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which ensured they had the same rights, privileges, and wages as the men. The union played an important role in supporting the women, including helping one get her job back after she was fired for becoming pregnant.

Featured are interviews with three former conductorettes - Pearl Wattum, Vilma Westerholm, and Edra McLeod - who describe their experiences on the job, including the challenges they faced, such as dealing with unruly passengers and the close supervision by company supervisors.

The podcast also provides historical context on the streetcar system in Vancouver, the role of unions, and the transition to buses and trolleybuses that eventually replaced the streetcars.

The episode highlights the important contributions these women made to keeping the city's transit system running during a critical time, and how their experiences shed light on the changing role of women in the workforce during the war years.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:

"I'm a TTC Skidaddler," written and performed by Stompin' Tom Connors, Bud the Spud and Other Favourites (1970)

"The Trolley Song," Judy Garland, from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Episode photo:

Greta Vesterback selling tickets for B.C. Electric Railway, 1946. Courtesy Rod Mickleburgh.

Sources:

Amalgamated Transit Union, a history (n.d.), accessed May 20, 2025, https://www.atu.org/downloadable-asset/history-of-atu.pdf

TransLink, "The Conductorettes: The first women to drive transit in Vancouver," The Buzzer Blog, July 16, 2015, https://buzzer.translink.ca/2015/07/the-conductorettes-the-first-women-to-drive-transit-in-vancouver-2/.

Pearl Berrington (Wattum). Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Pearl Barrington (Wattum). Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women’s Labour History Project. 1982. Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives.

Edra McLeod. Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Edra McLeod. Audio interview by Sara Diamond, Women’s Labour History Project. 1979. Courtesy VIVO Media Arts Centre and SFU Archives.

Vilma Jensine Westerholm. Audio interview by Richard Payment, Vancouver Historical Society. 1981. University of British Columbia Special Collections.

Written and researched by Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

• Follow us https://www.facebook.com/LabourHistoryInBC/
• Browse https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/
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• Send your feedback info@labourheritagecentre.ca
• Thanks for listening!

Using interviews from the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre's Oral History Project, the Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project, and a retired BCGEU (BC General Services Union) activist, this episode tells the impressive story of international solidarity by B.C. union members who worked tirelessly in support of those fighting to end South Africa’s heinous apartheid system. Starting in 1976, until the first free election in 1994, actions by citizens and labour shaped attitudes and responses to apartheid that resonate decades later. Featured are interviews with Jef Keighley, Cathy Walker, Colleen Jordan and Randy Pearson, along with music from the Total Experience Gospel Choir and Solidarity Notes Labour Choir.

Theme song: "Hold the Fort” (traditional) - Arranged & Performed by Tom Hawken & his band, 1992.

Episode music:

Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", South African National Anthem, adopted 1997. Performed by Solidarity Notes Labour Choir (2016).

“Shine” performed by the Total Experience Gospel Choir. “Patrinell: The Story of the Total Experience Gospel Choir" Official documentary Trailer #1 (2017)" https://youtu.be/5MvvIr_ScQw?si=4GdQcqpaq4TUibQY

Sources:

Ontario Federation of Labour. 30 April 2024. "Two Canadians to receive prestigious order from South African government, for the first time since Brian Mulroney." [Press Release] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/04/30/2872225/0/en/Two-Canadians-to-receive-prestigious-order-from-South-African-government-for-the-first-time-since-Brian-Mulroney.html

“Unions’ actions to embargo apartheid.” Pacific Tribune. 5 March 1986. 16.

Colleen Jordan. Interview by Keith Reynolds. 22 June 2023. https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/oral-history/colleen-jordan/

Randy Pearson. Interview by Patricia Wejr. 17 February 2025.

Jef Keighley. Interview by Doug Miller and Jane Armstrong, Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project. 26 January 2022. Uploaded by SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive, 12 March 2023. https://youtu.be/JO3oabUZDTY?si=Pi7IJiW5NVxvkpR9

Cathy Walker. Interview by Doug Miller, Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project. n.d. Uploaded by SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive, 13 March 2023.
https://youtu.be/ljVjfVkNZvk?si=1vXNCS9Gr_eKzlTI

SACTU Solidarity Alumni Archive https://www.sactusolidarityalumniarchive.org/

Written and researched by Patricia Wejr

Hosted by Rod Mickleburgh

Technical production by John Mabbott

• Follow us https://www.facebook.com/LabourHistoryInBC/
• Browse https://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/
• Find us on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/bclhc.bsky.social
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bc_lhc/
• Send your feedback info@labourheritagecentre.ca
• Thanks for listening!