In the summer of 1954, racist signs on the women’s washrooms at the Namu fish cannery divided the facilities between “Whites” and “Natives”. They had been there for years, but despite demands from both the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU) and the Native Brotherhood of BC (NBBC), management took no action.
In August, the workers did. In a joint meeting of first nations and white workers, the 154 members voted unanimously to do away with the signs and proceeded to do so. It was a small step in the long march to overcome racism and ethnic divisions in BC’s fishing industry. The...