Labour History Sings – A Conference Report

The Pacific Northwest Labour History Association (PNLHA) held its 45th annual conference May 3-5,...

The Smelter Poets – A History Essay

Abstract When celebrated Wobbly troubadour Joe Hill purportedly visited the Rossland Miners’ Hall in...

CUPE BC Turns 50 – A History Video

The attached video premiered on 13 April 2013 at the 50th anniversary convention of...

Mr. Movies – A Profile

For many SFU alumni, this year’s Oscar season might have triggered some warm memories...

The Smelter Poets – A History Essay

By Ron Verzuh

April 23, 2013

Abstract When celebrated Wobbly troubadour Joe Hill purportedly visited the Rossland Miners’ Hall in the early 1900s to lend his support to the first Canadian local of the rugged Western Federation of Miners (WFM), he no doubt shared some of his inspired verses with the mine workers who are said to have protected him. Claims...
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CUPE BC Turns 50 – A History Video

By Ron Verzuh

April 17, 2013

The attached video premiered on 13 April 2013 at the 50th anniversary convention of the British Columbia Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees where I worked for many years as a communications specialist. The history of CUPE BC’s early years is covered in a series of cartoon images with text provided by...
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Five Thieves in Subtraction

By Ron Verzuh

March 31, 2013

This long poem was written after an incident in a Vancouver China Town cafe in the early 1970s. It was during my Simon Fraser University days and four of my fellow students had persuaded me to join them for Chinese food. I had lived in the SFU dorms my first year at SFU and...
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Saving the dues check-off

By Ron Verzuh

March 19, 2013

Sam Gindin, former Chief Economist of the Canadian Auto Workers union, writes about the new challenge to the dues check-off in Canada and Ontario labour’s campaign to save it. He writes in part that “Unemployed workers, non-unionized workers, and even many members of unions will not be mobilized by sophisticated PR campaigns and dire...
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Spy’s 50th

By Ron Verzuh

March 19, 2013

John le Carré lovers like me are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the appearance of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The book is being reissued this month and le Carré has sent out his comments in an “Afterword” published in the Harper’s April 2013 edition. Here’s what the famous British spy...
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Why Argo won

By Ron Verzuh

February 26, 2013

I went into apoplectic mode when Michelle Obama opened the envelope last Sunday night, Oscar night, and drew out the paper that said Argo. The flawed account of the Canadian rescue of six American embassy staff members during the 1979-1981 hostage incident in Iran had won for best picture. How could this be? I...
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Unions are relevant department

By Ron Verzuh

February 14, 2013

Toronto Star’s Linda McQuaig shares her views on why unions are still relevant: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2013/02/12/unions_in_canada_under_siege_from_government_business_and_media_mcquaig.html
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Bourbon Street Beat – A Short Story

By Ron Verzuh

February 6, 2013

Justin Ouverture was speed-walking along Royal Street in a hurry to get to his office at the far end of the French Quarter when his right foot hit a raised termite cap. As he inspected his slightly scraped hand, having reached down to the uneven pavement to break his fall, a group of tourists...
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Equality for Jews and Palestinians

By Ron Verzuh

January 17, 2013

Followers of the situation in Palestine will want to attend a talk by Miko Peled at the Vancouver Public Library on February 7 at 7 p.m. Peled comes from an elite Zionist family in Israel. His recent book, The General’s Son, delivers the following simple message: “there should be equality between Israeli Jews and...
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Harper’s blasts Spielberg’s Lincoln

By Ron Verzuh

January 11, 2013

Anyone who has seen Lincoln, nominated for 12 Oscars and likely to win quite a few on February 24, may want to read Harper’s (February 2013) for a second opinion. Thomas Frank, who describes Steven Spielberg as “that Michelangelo of the trite,” speaks for me with the following statement about the filmmaker’s regular forays...
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