Verna Ledger
Verna M. Ledger nee Carlyle (1926-1 September 2015) was born in Cranbrook, B.C. Her first job was in a bank around 1950. She soon married and had two children, however, she separated from her husband shortly after. Needing to earn ore than what she had at the bank to support her children, she took a job at Canadian Forest Products as a dryer feeder in the plywood mill in 1953. At the time there were about 1000 men and 400 women working there. When the fight for equal pay for equal work was won the forest companies stopped hiring women and number in her mill fell to 80. Verna had grown up in a strong International Woodworkers of America (IWA) family and brought that tradition to her work serving as shop steward, participating on the safety, grievance and plant committees for 23 years. By Verna was IWA Regional Director of Safety. She was a vocal spokesperson and advocate for safety in the trade.