Rail Lands: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

The Canadian Pacific Railway maintained their various passenger cars out of the car maintenance building located near what is now Bremner Street. When in service, porters staffed these cars 24 hours a day. Their duties included loading and unloading passenger luggage, making beds, polishing the passengers’ shoes each night, pressing clothes, and serving food and beverages to passengers throughout the duration of their trip. Before they forming a union in 1939, it was common for a Black porter to only sleep three hours a night or less. 

Porters working for Canadian railways during this time were typically Black Canadian men, as it was one of the few good employment opportunities open to this community at the time. Black porters regularly worked longer hours than their white colleagues and often faced discrimination because of their race. Passengers often derogatorily referred to Black porters as “George” or “George’s Boy”, after George Pullman of the Pullman Palace Car Company, which created sleeper cars for various railway companies. 

Black porters had little ability to fight for better working conditions as they were not unionised. To make matters worse, railroads often unjustly fired Black porters without any recourse. Although railway unions existed, they would not allow Black porters entry as members. In 1917, a group of Winnipeg porters formed the Order of Sleeping Car Porters. It was the first organised union for Black Canadians: the group fought for better wages and better working conditions for railway porters.

A major breakthrough for Black porter’s rights occurred in 1939, when the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) allowed Canadians to join their union. Originally founded in the United States by Pullman porters, BSCP had six Canadian chapters across the country by the 1940s.

On May 18, 1945, the BSCP signed an agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR), becoming the first Black union to successfully sign an agreement with its employer in Canada. In this new agreement, CPR would increase porter’s wages and and provide additional days off. They also reduced the total hours in a porter’s work week. In 1955, the BSCP earned their workers access to promotion to the position of sleeping car conductor, which was never allowed previously. Despite the breakthroughs of the BSCP, Black porters continued to face discrimination throughout their careers. 

Besides the railroad workers themselves, the BSCP also had a lady’s auxiliary. Members of the auxiliary helped promote the BSCP and held social events for members and their family. The BSCP also supported education in the Black community and created scholarships. The lady’s auxiliary also helped to push for women’s rights, better social welfare programs, and stricter child labour laws.

In 1978, BSCP amalgamated with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks. The union continues to this day as the Transportation Communications International Union. Many past members of the BSCP continued to fight for civil rights long after leaving the organization. The BSCP’s struggle for fair wages and working conditions remains one of the most famous battles for equity of its time.