Item AAAB3993 - Pearl Moreau interview

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Pearl Moreau : Fraser Cafe workers get organized RECORDED: New Westminster (B.C.), 1979-07-26 & -08-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Moreau, nee Wong, began to work in Vancouver in 1944 as a waitress-in-training. The conditions were deplorable; five dollars a week to ten dollars a month, a ten-hour day, and half an hour for lunch with no other breaks. She had a child, then returned to the Fraser Cafe in 1955, leaving her child with her mother while she worked. The Fraser was a union shop, and after seeing the union attain a raise of only two cents any hour, she determined to become active, seeing many important issues for women -- equal fringe benefits, sick benefits, and sexual harassment. Workers supported each other to resist sexual harassment by the boss, a recurring problem for waitresses. The union worked towards the principle of equal pay. She participated in negotiations, served on the VDLC, and ran for hostess. TRACK 2: She found herself at times at odds with her union and voted independently. She eventually ran against Ed Carlson for president as an opposition candidate, claiming a need for stronger democracy in the union.