Longshoring on the Fraser

The importance of strong autonomous local unions on the waterfront is central to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union movement. ILWU Local 502, part of the Canadian area, has served the interests of member longshore workers on the Fraser River for over sixty years.

The growth of New Westminster as a principal river port of national and international significance created employment and opportunities for a diverse range of union activity. The gains in wages, collective bargaining, union dispatch and benefits are recounted as well as the setbacks and victories out of major strikes.

Chartered in July 1944, ILWU Local 502 adapted to changes in work and technology as the previous gang system transformed into new classifications and occupations.

Stories and oral histories bring to life the men and women who worked on the Fraser River back to 1859. Workplaces and the dispatch hall may have moved from New Westminster to other parts of the river, but solidarity, fraternity and pride in the work remains. Local 502 considers knowing the past and having an informed membership the best tools to confront challenges now and in future.

A dedicated group of pensioners, the ILWU Local 502 leadership in partnership with the City of New Westminster, and academic collaborators worked to compile this tribute to longshore work on the Fraser River in its many dimensions.

Local 502 is a small industrial waterfront union that, unlike many others in the developed world, survived closure and relocation. Through smart decision-making, strong solidarity, embracing new technologies and work processes, and lots of luck, it still thrives in the age of containerization.