Fonds consists of records documenting the origins and early history of the British Columbia Union Catalogue and includes correspondence, reports, and publications. They are arranged primarily in chronological order.

File contains incoming correspondence dated February 1979 to June 1979. Topics include referendums, constitutional amendments, office equipment, newsletters, support of causes and other unions, university procedure, union staffing and membership, disciplinary action, leaves of absence, public visibility, grievances with UBC, unemployment insurance, symposium proceedings on UBC day care, job descriptions, legal representation, educational courses, insurance benefits, the All-items Index of Consumer Prices for Canada, membership meetings, and a request for student volunteers.

File contains correspondence, financial records, fundraising proposals, petitions, news clippings, planning materials, press releases, and bulletins relating to the defense of eighteen individuals arrested on SFU picket lines during the 1979 strike.

File contains correspondence, financial records, fundraising proposals, petitions, news clippings, planning materials, and bulletins relating to the defense of eighteen individuals arrested on SFU picket lines during the 1979 strike.

File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence dated April 1, 1985 to October 2, 1985. Topics include labour studies education and scholarships, advertisements for services and products, calls for civic engagement (cuts to social services, services for unemployed people, teacher's increment wage system, elections, Downtown Eastside evictions due to Expo 86, Supreme Court of Canada legislation, nuclear power, pensions), secession from AUCE and merger with CUPE, cooperation and coordination with other unions, union representatives and representation, CUPE official policy, financial restraint at UBC, women in the workplace, rights of women, status of women, job classification, Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Expo 86, UBC financial audit, smoking in the workplace, and labour relations with UBC.

File contains incoming and outgoing correspondence dated October 16, 1984 to April 15, 1985. Topics include labour studies education and scholarships, advertisements for services and products, requests for financial assistance, union representatives and representation, cooperation and coordination with other unions, scabs, relations with UBC, calls for civic engagement (provincial election, teachers' salary, pacifism, financial restraint measures), affiliation with CUPE, international workers' and human rights, women's rights, Expo 86, workplace sexual harassment, Operation Solidarity, UBC financial cutbacks, and seniority of UBC staff.

File contains copies of outgoing correspondence dated January 1979 to January 1980. Topics include union membership and staffing, letters of thanks, donations and letters of support, speaking engagements, membership meeting notices, leaves of absence, employee assistance programs, educational courses, gender discrimination, membership dues, requests for publications, purchases, negotiations with UBC, retirement and pensions, working conditions, job classification and evaluation, disciplinary action, referendums, temporary employee appointments, workers' rights, women in the workforce, by-law amendments, the Provincial Dispatch, wage indemnity, maternity leave, steward seminars, worker insurance benefits, union elections, harrassment, and members of the executive. File also contains a copy of the October 5, 1973 "Dental Care Plan Service Contract" (and subsequent riders) between the Medical Services Association and the University of British Columbia.

File contains meeting minutes of the following Health and Safety Committees: General Services and Administration Building, dated April 11, 1985 to April 24, 1986; Instructional Resources Centre, dated January 30, 1985 to January 29, 1986; Library Processing Centre, dated March 15, 1985 to May 13, 1986; and Department of Theatre, dated January 13, 1985 to March 13, 1986. Topics include seminars, emergency procedures, safety hazards, committee organization, occupational safety films, workplace accidents and prevention, temperature and ventilation, fire safety, infection control, lighting, bicycle traffic, visual display terminals, UBC smoking policy, sick rooms, lock-out procedures, radiation concern, broken glass, building maintenance, CPR and first aid education, book truck maintenance, fumes, eye care, correspondence, Factory Act/Workplace Act, theatre construction, storage of chemicals and inflammables, and student insurance.

File also contains correspondence dated January 13, 1985 to January 16, 1986. Topics include safety supplies, air quality, stress-related illness, and Ritchie & Associates.

The collection contains materials related to Ian McDonald's Master's thesis research on the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 213 “Class conflict and political factionalism: a history of Local 213 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 1901-1961," and related to the activities of his father, Les McDonald, a trade union activist who belonged to Local 213 but was eventually suspended for leading the Lenkurt strike of 1966. Les McDonald was also a multi-sport athlete, and is credited with introducing the triathlon into the Olympics; some materials in the collection relate to Les McDonald's involvement in various sport and environmental organizations, as well as some of his personal papers. In addition to what he received from his father, Ian McDonald was also given papers by former IBEW Local 213 business manager Art O’Keeffe and Barry Sharbo, a board member of the Canadian Union of Electrical Workers (UE), as well as Alfie Huston, the former President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 213 from 1985-1988, which are included within the collection.

The collection is largely comprised of newspaper and photocopied journal articles, correspondence between members of IBEW Local 213, legal documentation, newsletters and other printed ephemera related to IBEW Local 213.

The collection also contains sound recordings of interviews with numerous figures in IBEW Local 213 created by Ian McDonald during his thesis research. McDonald's thesis, submitted for the completion of a Master of Arts in History at Simon Fraser University, can be found in the Summit database: http://summit.sfu.ca/item/6361.

The collection also contains background materials accumulated by McDonald while writing his book “The Red Baron of IBEW 213,” including digital sound recordings of interviews, research articles, notebooks, consent forms, a draft royalty agreement, a draft chapter and a press marketing questionnaire.

File contains press releases and clippings, strike bulletins, picketing materials, and correspondence, dated April 11, 1980 to April 29, 1980. Topics discussed include contracts, cost of living compared to wages, strike votes, negotiations, picketing, organizing the strike, AUCE financial information, Prince Charles' visit to UBC, contract committee activities, pay schedules, and a list of shop stewards.

File contains strike and mediation records, dated April 10, 1980 to May 13, 1980. Topics discussed include wages and living expenses, contracts, negotiations, mediation, strikes, amendments to the collective agreement, picket schedules and payment information, CLC affiliation, and committee reports. File also contains a copy of UBC Reports (vol. 26, no. 9) from May 7, 1980, and several news clippings.

File contains records of AUCE Local 2 (Simon Fraser University), dated November 1974 to July 1977. Records include issues of Local 2 newsletter AUCE Anchor, press release dated July 25, 1977, broadside titled "SFU WEEP", booklet of provincial constitution and local by-laws, listings of constitution and by-law amendments, review conducted by the Labour Relations Board of British Columbia of Local 2's first arbitration award dated March 15, 1976, working documents of contract negotiations, full contract dated November 22, 1974, Local's contract demands, news clippings regarding contract negotiations from the Province and the Vancouver Sun dated June 6, 1975, report on AUCE Local 2 history written by Angela Hamilton and Perce Groves, and open letters regarding on SORWUC Local 1 negotiations dated July 1975.

File contains agreements, news clippings, correspondence and other records of AUCE Local 3 (Notre Dame University) related to contractual negotiations with the university, dated August 1974 to November 1975. Agreements are between the Board of Governors of Notre Dame University of Nelson and AUCE Local 3, dated November 14, 1974 and September 29, 1975. File also includes proposed classifications and salary grade, and bulletin regarding defunding of Notre Dame University.

File contains material from Local 5 (College of New Caledonia) dated June 9, 1976 to October 7, 1981. Records include news bulletins, executive committee list, incoming correspondence, press clippings and report. Topics include constitution violations, discliplinary action, relations with non-teaching staff, contract negotiations, and strike action.

File contains news clippings addressing CUPE Local 2278 (UBC Teaching Assistants, Tutors, Markers, and Instructors in the English Language Institute) 2003 strike dated January 9, 2003 to April 26, 2003.

File contains news clippings addressing CUPE Local 2278 (UBC Teaching Assistants, Tutors, Markers, and Instructors in the English Language Institute) 2003 strike dated February 12, 2003 to April 15, 2003.

File contains material relating to working conditions at UBC. Records include "Second draft of amendments to Industrial Health & Safety Regulations (First Aid Section)" from the Worker's Compensation Board of British Columbia (dated September 25, 1978), documents produced by Local 1's Working Conditions Committee, correspondence regarding working conditions, an inspection report, a report regarding the detrimental effects of fluorescent lighting, and a newspaper clipping regarding stretching exercises for office workers.

File also contains a pamphlet from the UBC Alumni Association's Wesbrook Society (possibly from 1982), and copies of Local 1's grievance form.