VIVO Media Arts Centre Archive > Lydia Bastion & Alma Faulds

Lydia Bastian & Alma Faulds

Mrs. Lydia Bastian

Bastian was raised on an isolated farm in Saskatchewan. She worked the fields there and only left the farm to attend church. She was married in 1936. Lydia, her husband, and her sister moved to B.C. in 1937. She did a variety of menial jobs – housecleaning, laundry and picking tomatoes – while her husband was unemployed. She finally got a job at an Oliver apple packing house working various production line jobs. She worked for thirty-five seasons for 10-12 hours a day. They moved for a short time to Osoyoos when her husband got a job at Annacis Chrome. Lydia took on work as a cook. Lydia returned to the packing plant on their return, but lost all seniority.

Alma Amelia Faulds

Alma Amelia Faulds nee Schmidt was born in 1915 in Zorra, Saskatchewan, an Austrian settlement.  Her parents were both immigrants to Canada and worked a farm. At 14, the family moved to Manitoba. She worked hard to get an education, hoping to go to nursing school, but lack of openings derailed her into housemaid work. During these years, and as a waitress at the posh Manitoba Club and joined the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.  She married in 1940. Three months later her husband was sent overseas. He returned with severe arthritis so they moved to Oliver, British Columbia, where the climate could offer him some relief. She worked for a time in the fruit canneries and was instrumental in unionizing the packing houses. She spent the next 20 years as part of the union executive and, from 1959 to 1973 business agent of the Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union, Local 1572, CLC. She is noted for her activism in other areas, including in opposition to residential schools.

Audio Interview [1979]

Only 3 audio tapes of the original 4 exist.

Description

Faulds describes her life of poverty on the Prairies; starting school at 8 with no English; overcoming poverty, illness, and her family’s move to Manitoba to complete basic education; conditions for domestics during the Depression; what she learned about negotiating with employers by working as a waitress at the Manitoba Club; honing her understanding of class, politics, and human rights after joining the Cooperative Commonwealth Party; life in Oliver, British Columbia after WWII; working conditions and roles in the fruit canning industry; details about her job as business agent for the Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union; Bastion talks about conditions in a fruit packing plant; fighting for higher wages for the workers; conditions in the plants in the 1960’s; Bastion and Faulds discuss radical action to stop scabs during a strike.

Transcription

Full interview: Alma Faulds with Lydia Bastion (Complete)

Transcription of the missing audio tape can be found on pages 71-91.

Title: [Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 1/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_456_03A1

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title: [Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 2/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_456_03A2

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title: [Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 3/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_456_03B

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title:[Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 4/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_486_03A1

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title: [Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 5/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_486_03A2

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title:[Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 6/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_486_03B

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.

Title:[Lydia Bastian, Alma Faulds – 7/7]

Creator: Diamond, Sara

Contributor: Bastian, Lydia; Faulds, Alma

Subject: Women–Employment–British Columbia ; Women labor union members–British Columbia ; Women–Employment–British Columbia–History–20th century

Date Created: 1979

Type: Audio recording

Genre: Interviews

Extent: 1 audio cassette

Format: audio/mp3

Language: English

Identifier: SD_WLHP_453_03A

Is Part Of: Sara Diamond fonds

Series: Women’s Labour History Project

Source: Original Format: The VIVO Media Arts Centre. Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives. Sara Diamond fonds.

Rights: Media provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use of this media must be obtained from the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archives.