Founding of the Saint John Labourers' Benevolent Association National Historic Event
Saint John, New Brunswick
Workers at Market Slip, ca. 1905-1909
© John Woodruff / Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada / PA-021517
Address :
Market Slip, Saint John, New Brunswick
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2014-09-30
Dates:
-
1849 to 1849
(Significant)
Other Name(s):
-
Founding of the Saint John Labourers' Benevolent Association
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2012-22
Importance:
One of the oldest unions in Canada, played a pioneering role in the Canadian labour movement in the 19th century.
Plaque(s)
In 1849, longshoremen from Saint John founded a society for mutual aid and collective bargaining, thus establishing one of the earliest labour unions in British North America and proving it was possible to organize day labourers. Hundreds of people gathered at this site to raise a large bell, which was used until 1923 to signal the start and end of the union’s hard-won working day. In 1911, the Labourers’ Benevolent Association joined the International Longshoremen’s Association as Local 273. This pioneering union helped found the New Brunswick Federation of Labour in 1913 and secure the passage of workers’ compensation laws.