At Resource Works, we recognize and celebrate the efforts and sacrifices of workers across our great province.
On this Labour Day, we at Resource Works pay tribute to and honor the contributions and efforts of workers across British Columbia. Those who have toiled in natural resource sectors like mining, forestry, and oil and gas, as well as those who build LNG facilities and pipelines, work hard every day to build a better province for us all.
These industries have been the anchor and lifeblood of the BC economy for over 100 years, as have the men and women who worked within them, often without their due recognition. Through their bravery, resilience, and commitment, we all enjoy great lives in this beautiful province.
Both triumph and tragedy have marked the history of BC and its economy.
An explosion in Nanaimo’s No. 1 Esplanade Mine in 1887 caused 150 miners to lose their lives. Eighty years later, an explosion in a coal mine in the Elk Valley in 1967 resulted in another tragedy, killing 15 more men.
In past decades, the risks were clear, with explosions, collapses, and fires leading to shattered communities. The Nanaimo mining disaster left 46 widows without their husbands, and over 100 children fatherless, an overwhelming loss for a town of just 2,000 in 1887.
These are just two incidents that reflect the perils faced by natural resource workers in BC that endure to this day. In 2022, masked assailants carrying axes and flare guns attacked a camp where workers on the Coastal GasLink project resided, causing millions of dollars in damages.
Whether physical or psychological, visible or invisible, workers carry the scars of their chosen professions. Working with heavy machinery like chainsaws takes a daily physical toll and poses deadly dangers to those operating them.
For those who do not work in these industries, the burdens are difficult to understand.
These workers do not just engage in heavy labor every day, not just for themselves, but also for their families and communities.
Despite these great sacrifices and daily toils, these natural resource workers are often misunderstood and even slandered. Earlier this year in Squamish, workers slated to build the LNG facility were met with suspicion and fear.
Concerns were expressed about safety, traffic, and the environmental impact of the Squamish LNG project, rather than recognizing the contributions these workers would make to the local community. Baseless accusations were thrust at hardworking men and women preparing only to do their jobs and provide for their families.
It is so easy for those with power, like politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen, to make the choices and decisions that affect the livelihoods of workers from behind a desk. That is not to downplay their expertise or efforts, but how many of them bear scars from a chainsaw accident or have performed backbreaking physical labor for 12 hours or more in a dangerous environment?
Declining industries like forestry are not just an economic issue to be debated or theorized over; it is a human matter. Since 2001, forestry has seen a 45 percent drop in employment, to the tune of 35,000 jobs lost. These jobs disappearing also means the loss of the pride, meaning, and benefits held by workers and their families.
Without these workers, communities across BC would never have existed. Drawn from every corner of the world, whether Indigenous to BC or from the Pacific Islands, Asia, Europe, or elsewhere, workers all helped build BC into the home we know and love today.
This Labour Day, let us resolve to end the disconnect between those who make policy in Vancouver and Victoria, and the others facing the realities of working in the mine or the bush.
At Resource Works, we hope for a future where gainful and fulfilling employment will always be waiting for natural resource workers, and in which they are valued and supported.
On this Labour Day of the year 2024, we remember and honor the workers who continue to build BC with their bare hands every day of the year.