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Labour Studies Hosts Discussion of New Book on Activism and Social Change
A lively presentation and discussion was sponsored by the 911吃瓜 Labour Studies Program October 20, 2026 at 911吃瓜 Burnaby. Cathy Walker, a former 911吃瓜 student in the late 1960s who wrote a chapter in the new book, Long Sixties, Stories from the New Left gave the talk.
The book is aimed at young people today who are encouraged to become activists themselves. The book includes chapters from six other authors who have been activists since the 1960s to the present day. Their 60s have indeed all been 鈥榣ong鈥� in terms of their activism for social change.
Dr. Kendra Strauss, director of 911吃瓜鈥檚 LBST, introduced Cathy who has been supportive of the Labour Studies Program for many years.
The talk began with an explanation of the early days of 911吃瓜, from its founding in 1965, to the year Cathy started First Year in 1967, to the very active student movement at 911吃瓜 during the late 60s. 911吃瓜 was an innovative university with many progressive ideas and practices. The student movement at 911吃瓜 involved student power and attempted to make the university a better place for working class students. Cathy said she felt then as she does now, universities should serve the working class.
The women鈥檚 movement of the late 60s at 911吃瓜 was significant. Women students organized into Women鈥檚 Caucus, part of the Students for a Democratic University so women would have more rights and an equal say with male student leaders. At the time, among 126 faculty at 911吃瓜, only 16 were women.
When Women鈥檚 Caucus moved off campus to downtown Vancouver, issues of concern to working women such as equal pay and maternity leave became important.
Reproductive issues for women were particularly significant since contraception had only been made legal in 1969. Inspired by the 1935 On to Ottawa Trek where workers in the relief camps rode on top of rail boxcars in an attempt to bring their grievances to Ottawa about their low pay, Women鈥檚 Caucus decided to organize an Abortion Caravan. The issue was demanding the right of women to control their own bodies. From April 27 to May 9, 1970, the young women slept each night on church and union basement floors, giving speeches and holding rallies in cities across the country from Vancouver to Ottawa. On May 11, 1970, they chained themselves to the Visitors鈥� Gallery of the House of Commons and shut down Parliament to press their demands. They never gave up in their fight for justice. It took another 18 years for abortion to finally be de-criminalized in Canada.
Returning from the Abortion Caravan, Cathy began working in factories in Vancouver and became active in her trade union. Women鈥檚 rights issues became central to her activities in these plants and she was able to distribute much-needed information about birth control. She fought for equal pay for work of equal value so that women were able to successfully get 鈥渕en鈥檚鈥� jobs and prevent being laid off while men were kept on.
She played a leading role in her union, the Canadian Association of Industrial, Mechanical and Allied Workers, (CAIMAW) an independent Canadian union composed of workers who had left US (International) unions and workers who had no union at all. These workers all wanted fair treatment. Then, as now, Cathy believed real international worker solidarity comes from no organization dominating another. Rather, unity is achieved with shared values and aims. Eventually she became a local union leader and then national staff representative, negotiating contracts and being involved with occupational health and safety and workers鈥� compensation.
Cathy left Vancouver for Toronto in 1992 when her union merged with the CAW. In 2013 the CAW merged with the CEP to become Unifor, now the largest private sector union in the country with 320,000 members.
A good discussion was held at the conclusion of the talk and participants were encouraged to read the book, which Cathy signed, also available from Fernwood Publishers, .