We ve come a far way : Retired rail worker reflects on history of Black activism as force for change
When he worked for Via in Winnipeg in the 1990s, Tony McFarlane helped end a practice of booking higher-paid train staff in separate, and sometimes more expensive, hotel accommodations than lower-paid staff many of whom were people of colour.
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Tony McFarlane helped break barrier in the rail industry, where Black workers fought for equality for decades
Posted: Feb 28, 2021 6:00 AM CT | Last Updated: February 28
Tony McFarlane started as a purchasing agent with Via Rail in Winnipeg in 1989, and retired from the company in 2016 as a contracts manager in charge of capital projects.(Submitted by Tony McFarlane)
The Globe and Mail Rod Mickleburgh Published January 14, 2021
Ben Welland
Except for a historic venture into the politics of Newfoundland, Ed Finn was not one to generate headlines. He was a behind-the-scenes guy. Over a career that spanned nearly 70 years, Mr. Finn used his skills as a communicator and strategist to advance unions and progressive causes ranging from the bitter Newfoundland loggers’ strike in 1959 to the fierce fight for medicare in Saskatchewan to the anti-free trade movement to myriad union battles across the country.
He also brought the views of labour into the mainstream media with a long-running weekly column in the Toronto Star. The column developed a strong following because it went beyond union rhetoric. Mr. Finn steered his own course, often irritating labour leaders by taking positions that strayed from their official line.
Winnipeg Free Press
A television period drama about the lives and challenges of Black railway workers, promising to be the biggest Black-led production ever in Canada, will commence shooting this spring in Winnipeg.
A television period drama about the lives and challenges of Black railway workers, promising to be the biggest Black-led production ever in Canada, will commence shooting this spring in Winnipeg.
It’s an appropriate location since, a century ago, Winnipeg is where the first Black railway workers union, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters, was formed in response to the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees union’s segregationist policies.