Canada History Week 2019: Working for the Future

BROMLEY ARMSTRONG From his early days as a trade unionist and active leader in United Automobile Workers (UAW) Local 439 to his later role in restructuring the National Black Coalition of Canada, Bromley Armstrong was an outspoken labour and human rights activist working diligently for progressive social change.

Courtesy of Bromley Armstrong

TYMOFEI KOREICHUK Koreichuk was a Ukrainian Canadian labour activist who organized speaking events for the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party of Canada. His arrest and internment encapsulate the experience of thousands of Ukrainian labourers who migrated to Canada before the First World War.

Courtesy of Queen’s University Archives

RICHARD HENRY LEAHEY As an Irish Catholic labourer, Leahy organized the Knights of Labor in Quebec City in the 1880s. He was also a member of the Quebec Ship Labourers’ Benevolent Society – one of the strongest unions in Canada in the 20th century.

Courtesy of National Archives

Between 1880 and 1885, 15,000 Chinese labourers completed the British Columbia section of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). More than 600 perished under appalling and adverse working conditions.