Throughout 2018, the Whistler Museum’s blog, Whistorical, published a weekly feature called “This Week in Photos” (find all the posts here). We had recently finished scanning the Whistler Question collection of photos from 1978 to 1985 and used the photos (which were helpfully arranged by their week of publication) to illustrate what was happening in Whistler in a particular week for each year the collection covered. Most photos that had been published in the paper were catalogued with captions that helped provide context but for some photos you need to go to copies of the Question to understand what’s pictured. One such photo can be seen here:
Crowds begin to mass for the Town Centre rally organized by the Whistler Contractors Association. Over 300 people took part in the rally and march through Town Centre. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.
The image of a protest in front of a partially constructed Town Centre was published in the week of September 11, 1980 but the story behind it can be found in the Question throughout that year. The first report of tensions around Town Centre construction projects in found in an editorial from June 5, 1980. The dispute was mainly over whether the Town Centre was considered an integrated site, allowing both union and non-union workers to work on the different parcels, or a common site, allowing the Town Centre developers to employ only union workers. There were four parcels being built by non-union contractors at the time.
The Labour Relations Board (LRB) had been asked to make a decision on the matter. On June 11, the Whistler Contractors Association (WCA), headed by Doug O’Mara, attended the talks with a letter from Mayor Pat Carleton and the rest of Council expressing a desire to keep the Town Centre as an integrated site, allowing the independent contractors of the WCA to continue working there.
This seemed to be the main question in Whistler that summer. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.
The LRB chose not to make a ruling at that time and construction of the Town Centre by both union and non-union workers continued over the summer, though there was still tension.
Over the August long weekend the unions did stop work for a day, leading to what the Question described as “an extra long weekend.” However, the Question editorial staff were confident enough that the construction season would end without a major disruption that they published an editorial on August 21 thanking those who had kept the Town Centre moving and claiming “we’re fairly confident that the relative harmony that has existed over the area for the summer will extend into the fall.” One week later, on August 28, approximately 200 union workers walked off the Town Centre site. This action began another hearing of the LRB beginning September 3.
The rally pictured was quickly organized by the WCA and took place on September 4. Over 300 people turned out to support the WCA and signed a petition to be taken to the LRB. The rally also attracted media attention and interviews with O’Mara, Nancy Greene, and other contractors were aired on CBC and CKVU and featured on the front page of the Province.
The WCA led media and supporters on a walk through the Town Centre showing just how much work was still to be completed. Whistler Question Collection, 1980.
The talks with the LRB continued for almost two weeks while the remaining construction season got shorter. On September 15, the LRB announced that they needed to investigate the issue further and would send two officials to Whistler. In the meantime, the Town Centre was to be treated as an integrated site.
Work resumed on the Town Centre over the next week, just in time for the Premier and Cabinet to visit, but the dispute did not end there. The LRB announced on December 2 that, effective January 1, 1981, the Town Centre would be considered a common site, excluding the Whistler Golf Course and work on Blackcomb Mountain, which opened just two days later. The WCA stated that they would appeal the decision, but Mayor Carleton was not hopeful the decision would be reversed.
Though looking through the Question doesn’t always provide the whole story behind a photograph, it often helps provide some context.
WHISTORICAL 