Bill White

Bill White (1913-1985) was born in South Dakota. His family moved to Winnipeg in 1919 and witnessed the general strike, notoriously “throwing [their] collection of marbles under the hooves of the RCMP’s horses” [John Steele, “Socialist Voice”]. By the Depression he was working at a sawmill in Thunder Bay. By the age of 22 he had helped build the International Workers of the World, joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Bridge Rivers miners union in B.C. After his service in EEII he became a riveter in the government-run shipyards at Prince Rupert. He became President of the Boilermakers Local there. In 1944, Bill helped organize the first pan-Canadian conference of Trotskyists that resulted in the formation of the Revolutionary Workers Party. He worked at Britannia Beach mine by 1947 and joined in several unions’ public campaign against racism in the hotel industry. Bill retired in 1971, suffering from the miners’ lung disease, silicosis. He worked to have silicosis recognized as an occupational disease by the Workers Compensation board. He continued in retirement to educate young workers about the Revolutionary Workers league and the communist movement.

Audio Interview [1978]

Description

White describes defending women’s right to a job at the end of World War II; conditions in Prince Rupert; the growth of the shipyards; battles between soldiers, workers and First Nations people; racism in Prince Rupert; response to the entry of women in the shipyards; attitudes towards the Japanese; anti-war sentiments; the no-strike pledge and the Labour progressive Party; women’s work as “helpers” or “improvers” after taking several months long training courses in welding; women stringing their own hoses and cables; drinking with the women workers at the Savoy Hotel as a form of camaraderie; women becoming stewards in the union.

Transcription

Full transcription: White, Bill
Edited by Subject: White, Bill (edited)