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Last updated: 03/18/01

Alberta labour history organization founded

By Jim Selby, AFL Staff

(reprinted from Alberta Labour News, December 1999)

[Edmonton] A new organization has been founded in Alberta to collect, restore, protect and archive materials relating to the history of working people in the province. The new nonprofit agency, the Alberta Labour History Institute, will fill a badly needed role in the province according to AFL President Audrey Cormack.

"Alberta has a rich and important tradition of labour activism that reaches back over a century," said Cormack. "But much of our past is in danger of disappearing forever as past generations of union activists pass away with their knowledge unrecorded and their records neglected. "

According to Dave Werlin, a past President of the Alberta Federation of Labour and one of the creators of the Institute, addressing that urgent problem is one of the Institute's highest priorities. "We will be approaching union locals throughout the province over the next year to solicit support for a major oral history project," said Werlin. "We want to record video interviews with as many retired union leaders and activists as we can find," said Werlin, "and we are definitely looking at a narrow window of opportunity in some cases. "

However, the Institute has already been seeking financial support from the federal government and other sources for a more immediate millennium project. The Labour History Institute is going to update Warren Caragata's History of Alberta Labour and transfer it into an interactive CD-ROM format.

Labour videographer Don Bouzak, another founding member of the Institute, is pursuing the CD-ROM project. "We believe that this will be an invaluable resource for students at teachers at all levels," said Bouzak.

The Labour History Institute has an ambitious agenda. They ultimately want to construct a stand-alone labour history and archives that will house all available labour history records and cultural artifacts, as well as a comprehensive labour history library. One suggestion has been to recreate one of the province's old labour temples at Fort Edmonton Park to serve as the Institute's home. They eventually want to develop sustaining funding to support ongoing historical research and archiving.

The Institute, founded by labour activists, intends to be a collaborative effort between trade unionists and academics. Toward this end, the Alberta Federation of Labour has agreed to provide a minimum of one person to serve on the Institute's Board of Director's.

"I am very excited about this initiative," said AFL Secretarytreasurer Les Steel. "Albertans need to preserve and learn about the vital role their predecessors played in the growth and development of our province and our country."

"One of our first real efforts is going to be communicating with trade union locals around the province," said Institute Board member Eugene Plawiuk. 'We want them to know that we exist, and to encourage them to store their old documents and photographs in a safe way so that they can be retrieved and archived once we are in full operation. We'll also want people to help identify old labour leaders and activists in their areas -either from their own local or from within their communities."

More information about the Alberta Labour History Institute is available at their website:

http://www.labournet.ca/alhi.htmi

They can be contacted via e-mail at: alhi@hotmaii.com, or by mail at: Box 1075, Edmonton, AB. T5J 2M1

Individuals can become members of the Institute and help it get underway.

Individuals $25

Seniors/Students/Unwaged $10 Institutions $125

Reprinted from Alberta Labour News, December 1999.