IS THIS WORK WORTH A THIRD MORE?: Left, Powell River BC Tel workers strike for a wage increase of 32.1%. Right, back at work. Photo courtesy of the qathet Historical Museum & Archives
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34 November 2023 • qathetliving.ca
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Hello? Operator? The Telephone Workers Strike of 1969 BY MARY WILLIAMS QATHET MUSEUM & ARCHIVES ASSISTENT CURATOR
T
he summer of 2023 was dubbed “Solidarity Summer” by some, as an unprecedented number of unions went on strike. In British Columbia we saw the BC Port Workers, Fraser Valley transit, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and other strikes – as well as the Writers Guild of America that impacted BC’s film & TV industry. Some say we’re in the crudely-named season of “F-You, Pay Me” fall. This year, however, is hardly the first time there have been massive labour strikes. Most notable is the summer of 1969. Beginning in June of that year, newspapers began reporting on the meat cutters strike, the oil workers strike, the BC teachers strike, and the BC telephone strike. All of these had their inconveniences (and indeed, many an editorial was written to complain about strikes), but the most widely reported – at least locally – was the BC telephone strike. The strike action was called for by the Federation of Telephone Workers of BC, and began on June 23,
1969. There were two key points the Federation asked for: wage increases, and reduced hours. The Federation wanted a wage increase of 32.1%, and BC Telephone had countered with an offer of 17% (Powell River News, July 1969). While the strike was ongoing, the newspaper was rife with advertisements from both parties. BC Telephone claimed the workers were unreasonable and disruptive. The Federation of Telephone Workers provided advice to the public about how to prepare for the strike and how to best use telephone services while it was ongoing. Local workers held a picket line outside the B.C. Telephone offices at 6930 Duncan on July 2nd, 1969. The local papers never did report on the final outcome of the strike, but an agreement was reached and the strike officially ended on August 5, 1969. By August 7, crews were back at work (Powell River News, Aug 7, 1969). Tensions were still high about the strike, even after it was over, but the town otherwise got back to business as usual. At least until the next strike in the ‘70s.
