One need look now further than the giant on the hill to learn about the critical role workers at the Trail smelter played in the country’s labour movement.
By the late 1930s the Trail smelting plant was going full tilt, running three eight-hour shifts per day.
Employees worked 15 consecutive days and had five off. The base rate of pay for a labourer was $3.35 per day, with a variety of bonuses added.
Working conditions were poor and there were many health and safety hazards in the plants.
The International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill) began organizing the workers in 1937.
In 1938, Local 480 of the Union received its charter. They needed 50 per cent of the workers to sign union cards to become the official bargaining agent for the smelter workers.
Workers at the smelter did not express much interest in unionizing at the time and CM&S urged their employees to reject union membership. With so many serving overseas, organizing the men became a challenge during the war.
In 1944, the Federal Government required employers to bargain collectively whenever a majority of workers voted to unionize. They also outlawed company unions, such as CM&S Workmen’s Cooperative Committee.
Mine Mill increased its membership drive and achieved certification in 1944.
The first collective agreement was signed with CM&S the same year. Mine Mill represented smelter workers through the 1950s and early 1960s until it merged with the United Steelworkers of America in 1968.
Local 480 of the United Steelworkers represents the smelter workers to this day.