The Founding of the Saint John Labourers’ Benevolent Association

One of the earliest labour unions in British North America, the Saint John Labourers’ Benevolent Association (LBA) was founded by longshoremen in 1849. This society for mutual aid and collective bargaining demonstrated that it was possible to organize day labourers, and served as a model for other workers to emulate. When Saint John emerged as a crucial port city in the early 20th century, the LBA became a leader among longshoremen’s unions. In 1911, it joined the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) as Local 273, in response to changes in ownership in the Canadian shipping industry. This pioneering union was greatly influential in the labour movement in New Brunswick in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and later in other eastern ports in Canada, helping to found the New Brunswick Federation of Labour in 1913 and secure the passage of provincial workers’ compensation legislation in 1918.

During the peak of the timber trade in the 19th century, a large workforce of ship labourers – later known as longshoremen – was required to load and unload ships. Ship labourers performed back-breaking manual labour, and as long as the supply of men looking for work exceeded the number of available waterfront jobs, the workers faced poor wages, long working days, and often hazardous conditions. In general, casual labourers had no readily marketable skills other than their physical strength, and they tended to be hired on a day-to-day basis. These factors made it difficult for these labourers to form lasting labour organizations. In Saint John, however, thanks to the timber trade’s importance to the local economy, and the large workforce the trade required, ship labourers were able to draw upon their advantageous position to become among the earliest groups of day labourers in British North America to organize. The LBA served a dual purpose for longshoremen, providing mutual assistance for workers sick or injured in a dangerous occupation, while also advocating to improve the working conditions of its members. A similar organization was formed in Québec City, the other major timber centre in Canada.

As the timber trade declined around the turn of the century, Saint John emerged as a key port city for winter shipping between the interior of Canada and Britain. Saint John handled cargoes heading to or from Montréal when that port was blocked by ice. As ownership in the North American shipping industry became more concentrated, the Canadian Pacific Railway and other shipping companies asked for more concessions on wages and working conditions by exploiting divisions within the LBA and threatening to divert shipping business from Saint John. To meet this challenge, the LBA joined the larger ILA in 1911, and reinforced labour solidarities in the centralizing economy. A pivotal early example of organized labour in Canada, the LBA/Local 273, helped shape the province’s labour institutions through its work with the New Brunswick Federation of Labour and advocacy for workers’ compensation laws.