Shipyard General Workers Federation
The Shipyard Workers’ General Federation was founded in 1943. Its purpose was to unite across trades — mechanics, helpers, metalworkers, fabricators and other general-workers employed in British Columbia’s shipbuilding and repair yards — under one industrial umbrella. It continues today as the central body representing three industrial shipbuilding locals on the west coast of Canada. It is an active affiliate of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
Member Unions of the Shipyard General
Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union Local 1 (MWBIU 1)
The Marine Workers have a long and proud history, dating back to 1927 when they broke away from the International Boilermakers. The union along with Local 191 in Victoria voted to leave the International and form a new union, the Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders’ Union of Canada’ Local 1. The newly established local in Vancouver wasted little time in affiliating with the All Canadian Congress of Labour founded the same year. The local received its charter from the Congress in 1928.
During the war years the Marine Workers was the largest trade union in Canada with a membership of over twenty five thousand members. In 1944 the Marine Workers along with a number of other shipbuilding unions got together and formed the Shipyard General Workers Federation in order to bring forward one strong voice to the government on behalf of organized labour on the west coast. The Federation is charted directly to the Canadian Labour Congress and has proven to be a strong lobbying vehicle for the industry.
At the end of the Second World War they once again made a name change with the amalgamation of various related shipbuilding locals including Boilermakers and Iron Shipbuilders Local 1, the Dock and Shipyard Workers Union and the Shipwrights and Caulkers Industrial Union Local 1 to be named the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union Local 1.
The Marine Workers currently hold certifications with nineteen companies on the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. While most people associate the union with shipbuilding they also are involved with a number of other industries such as boiler shops, steel fabrication shops, on site mill and petro chemical plant repair, pressure vessel shops, metal recycling, manufacturing plants and deep-sea vessel repair.
Machinists Fitters Helpers Industrial Union Local 3 (MFHIU 3)
The Machinists’ Fitters & Helpers Industrial Union Local 3 (Machinists Local 3) held its’ first union meeting in November 1941. They are a Canadian Union and were affiliated to the Shipyard General Workers’ Federation of BC in 1949.
Machinists Local 3 operates on Vancouver Island and is affiliated with the Victoria Labour Council, Nanaimo, Duncan and District Labour Council, BC Federation of Labour and the Dockyard Trades & Labour Council. They are also affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress through the Shipyard General Workers’ Federation.
They represent workers on Vancouver Island at the Department of National Defence – Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd., Nicholson Manufacturing Ltd. and Air Liquide Canada.
Machinists Local 3 currently has just under 400 members.
Shipwrights, Joiners and Wood Caulkers Industrial Union Local 9 (SJCIU 9)
The Shipwrights, Joiners and Wood Caulkers Industrial Union Local No. 9 is one of the oldest trade unions on the West Coast of Canada, with its earliest recorded reference appearing in legal documents from 1863 under the name “Journeyman Shipwrights Association.” Over the course of more than 160 years, the organization has operated under various titles and affiliations. Its most recent certification was granted in 1947 by the Shipyard General Workers’ Federation of British Columbia (SGWF of BC).
Local No. 9 is presently one of three unions certified by the Federation, alongside the Marine Workers and Boilermakers Industrial Union Local No. 1 (Vancouver, BC) and the Machinists, Fitters and Helpers Industrial Union Local No. 3 (Victoria, BC). Through the SGWF, all three unions maintain affiliation with the Canadian Labour Congress and the BC Federation of Labour. Each union within the Federation remains wholly independent and proudly Canadian.
Local No. 9 currently holds one Jurisdictional Certification within the Ship Repair West occupational group. This certification applies to the Federal Government Naval Dockyard at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, BC, including CFAD Rocky Point (Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot) and CF METR (Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental Test Range) located in Nanoose Bay, BC. The Local is also one of eleven unions affiliated with the Federal Government Dockyards Trades and Labour Council (West).
Within the Naval Dockyard, Local No. 9’s jurisdiction encompasses four areas of the Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton:
- Shop 121 – Laggers
- Shop 122 – Shipwrights/Joiners (shared jurisdiction with Carpenters Local No. 1598)
- Shop 171 – Trades and Material Support
- Shop 172 – Marine Industrial Labourers
In addition to these primary areas, Local No. 9 also represents members working in several multi-jurisdictional sections of FMF Cape Breton, as well as members stationed at both CF METR and CFAD Rocky Point.
Prominent Certifications:
Vancouver Drydock (MWBIU Local 1)
Vancouver Drydock is a ship-repair yard on the north shore of Vancouver Harbour (Burrard Inlet), operating floating drydocks and repair facilities for commercial and government vessels. The site occupies the eastern end of the former Burrard Dry Dock / Burrard-Yarrows shipyard complex. Today the yard is part of the Washington family’s marine group (operating under Seaspan/Washington Companies).
Allied Shipbuilders (MWBIU Local 1)
Allied Shipbuilders Ltd. is a long-established shipyard and repair facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1948 by T.A. McLaren, the company began as a small repair yard on the False Creek flats before relocating to North Vancouver in the mid-1960s. Over its history, Allied has built and repaired a wide range of coastal vessels, including tugs, barges, fishboats, patrol craft, and specialized commercial vessels.
The shipyard remains one of the oldest continuously operating privately owned marine repair yards on the West Coast. It operates two floating drydocks, fabrication sheds, and a large machine shop (Coast Engineering, Western Machine Works) and is known for its long relationship with tug and barge operators, coastal commercial fleets, and government marine agencies.
Victoria Shipyards (MFHIU Local 3)
Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd. is a major ship repair and refit facility operating out of the Esquimalt Graving Dock in Victoria, British Columbia. The site’s heritage traces back to
Yarrows Shipyard, a prominent naval and commercial shipbuilder that operated in Esquimalt from the early 20th century until its assets were reorganized in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Victoria Shipyards was formally established in 1994 under the Seaspan group, continuing the region’s long-standing shipbuilding tradition. Today it carries out large-scale repairs, overhauls, and modernization projects for commercial fleets, cruise ships, and the Royal Canadian Navy. The facility employs a wide range of skilled marine trades and maintains certifications with shipyard industrial unions representing welders, fabricators, pipefitters and other repair crafts.
Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton (MFHIU Local 3, SJCIU Local 9)
Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton (FMF Cape Breton) is a Royal Canadian Navy maintenance and repair facility located at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, British Columbia. Established in the early 1990s through the consolidation and modernization of earlier dockyard workshops, FMF Cape Breton was created to provide centralized, full-service engineering, refit, and logistical support for Canada’s Pacific Fleet. Since its formation, the facility has grown into one of the largest industrial employers in the region, supporting warship overhauls, systems integration, component manufacturing, and technical services for both legacy and modern naval vessels. Today, FMF Cape Breton remains a core element of Canada’s West Coast naval infrastructure, delivering essential fleet readiness and sustaining operations for Maritime Forces Pacific.
Canadian Maritime Engineering Port Alberni (MWBIU Local 1)
Canadian Maritime Engineering (CME) Port Alberni comprises 3 marine repair and fabrication facilities on the waterfront of Port Alberni, British Columbia. The site has a long marine-industry heritage. Originally it operated for decades as Alberni Engineering, then owned by Nanaimo Shipyard, before being acquired and modernized by CME around 2013. The yards repair, overhaul, and refit tugs, barges, fishing vessels, and commercial workboats. It is also involved in new construction. It employs multiple skilled trades, including welders, fabricators, machinists, pipefitters, and shipwrights.