History of Canadian Labour
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM PST Maritime Labour Centre 111 Victoria Drive Vancouver, BC V5L 4C4
IN PERSON – at the Maritime Labour Centre
History matters. It shapes how we think and act in the present and it shapes our vision for the future. Working people are often cut off from their history, for our history of struggles and victories and solidarity are lessons bosses and governments don’t want us to remember. Our course will look at the history of Canadian labour to draw lessons from the past than can inspire and teach us today. Using role-plays, songs, and images, we’ll trace some of the events and experiences that have shaped our movement, to help us think more clearly about the challenges we face.
Facilitator: Mark Leier, SFU
Mark Leier is a history professor at Simon Fraser University. He has been a member of several unions over his working life, including the Glaziers, CUPE, TSSU, Carpenters, and SFUFA. Noted for his use of the banjo and labour songs in his classes, Mark is an award-winning teacher who has taught labour history at the CLC Winter School and for several unions. His books include Where the Fraser River Flows, a history of the IWW in BC; Bakunin: A Creative Passion, a biography of the 19th-century Russian anarchist, and Rebel Life: The Life and Times of Robert Gosden, a BC radical and police spy. His most recent project, with labour studies instructor John-Henry Harter, is Roles of Resistance: Game Plans for Teachers and Troublemakers.