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Ian McDonald collection Labour
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Ian McDonald collection

  • RBSC-ARC-1783
  • Collection
  • [1910?]-[before 2022]

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.

McDonald, Ian

Workmen's Compen. Board, 1917-1961

File contains copies of workmen's compensation reports for labourers in various professions; reports cover 1926-1930, 1935-1939, 1942-1947. Also contains handwritten notes by Ian McDonald recording figures from 1917-1961.

[Charles (Charlie) Caron file]

File contains a photocopy of Charlie Caron's autobiography, describing his involvement in labour issues in Canada in the the 1930s primarily. Caron also provides a historical account of the activities of the Communist Party of Canada up to the 1970s.

[Labour During the Cold War - James L. Turk paper]

File contains a copy of a paper presented by James L. Turk of the University of Toronto at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Oral History Association in June 1980. The full title of the paper is "Labour During the Cold War: Oral History in the Study of the Survival of the United Electrical Workers in Canada."

[Spontaneity Went Out With Spartacus]

File contains an essay written by Ian McDonald on the Lenkurt strike and his father's role within the strike; the full title is "Spontaneity Went Out With Spartacus: IBEW Local 213, Les McDonald, and the Lenkurt Strike of 1966." Ian McDonald considers the essay to be a continuation of his work on his 1986 Master's thesis, which discussed the IBEW before the Lenkurt strike.

Alfie Huston papers

The subseries contains materials collected by Alfie Huston, who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 213 from 1985-1988. Materials include correspondence, newspaper clippings, convention reports, minutes, affidavits, court orders, settlement agreements, campaign materials, business office reports, newsletters, financial reports, discussion papers, safety bulletins, organizing committee resolutions, telegrams and membership lists.

Research for book - The Red Baron of IBEW Local 213

This series contains materials accumulated by Ian McDonald related to the writing of his book “The Red Baron of IBEW Local 213” written about his father, Les McDonald. Materials include digital sound recordings of interviews, research articles, notebooks, consent forms, a draft royalty agreement, a draft chapter and a press marketing questionnaire.

Barry Sharbo papers

The subseries contains newspaper clippings, pamphlets, official correspondence, bulletins and other ephemera collected by Barry Sharbo, who was the spokesperson for the breakaway movement from IBEW Local 213 in 1967 which would eventually become the Canadian Union of Electrical Workers (CEW/CEWU/UE). Also contains a copy of the CEW's constitution and a proof copy of the first issue of Live Wire, the CEW's newspaper.

IBEW Local 213 papers

The subseries contains materials related to the activities of IBEW Local 213 between 1949 and 1991, predominantly between1949 and the mid-1970s, including affidavits, reports, correspondence and newspapers. Documented within the subseries is the internal conflict between the IBEW’s American leadership and trade union activists within Local 213, and attempts to unite IBEW Locals in British Columbia through a provincial council. Also contains numerous issues of IBEW Local 213’s newspaper, the 213 Live Wire, between the mid-1950s and mid-1970s, grievance reports and ephemera from the 100th anniversary of the first annual convention of the IBEW of America, celebrated in 1991.

Lenkurt papers

The subseries contains materials related to the 1966 wildcat strike by IBEW Local 213 workers at Lenkurt Electric, in which 257 members participated in a walkout that resulted in the loss of their jobs. A large number of the group were women protesting the employer’s demands for them to work overtime. The month-long dispute that followed was at times violent in response to the court injunctions and police presence sought by the employer.

The subseries is predominantly comprised of newspaper articles collected around the time of the strike; there are also legal documents related to Les McDonald’s appeal of his suspension following the Lenkurt strike, pamphlets, correspondence and photocopies of meeting minutes made by Ian McDonald.

Collected papers

The series contains materials belonging to Ian McDonald’s father, Leslie (Les) McDonald, and other figures involved in IBEW Local 213. Materials relate predominantly to the activities of IBEW Local 213, though some papers also relate to Les McDonald’s involvement in various sports and community organizations, his writings and his personal correspondence.

Materials within the series include notebooks, postcards, letters, newsletters, newspaper articles and issues, legal documents and photographs. Relative to the ‘Thesis Research’ series, many more materials are original or copies made at the time the originals were created.