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.

Audio Interview [1979]

Description

Ledger describes working at Canadian Forest Products as a dryer feeder in a plywood mill (1953); fighting for equal pay for equal work or work of equal value and subsequent firings of women (1966); trying to secure childcare; working as an IWA shop steward; participation in numerous committees; working as Regional Director of Safety; establishing union hiring halls to ensure women were hired on; the importance of political action to women as a means of legislating improved conditions.

Transcription

Full transcription: Ledger, Verna

Title: [Verna Ledger – 1/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Ledger, Verna

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_642_sideA_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title: [Verna Ledger – 2/2]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Ledger, Verna

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: OBJ_642_sideB_01

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: Simon Fraser University Archives. Sara Diamond fonds

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.