International Fur Workers’ Union
Born in Poland, Pearl Wedro became interested in labour and socialism before migrating to Winnipeg in the 1920s. There she helped to organize the city’s first local of the International Fur Workers’ Union, serving on its executive. After being blacklisted, Pearl was unable to find work. She moved to Toronto in 1931, where she continued to work as a fur worker. She joined the Communist Party. She was active in the Industrial Union of the Needle Trades, and she helped to organize the unemployed and Communist electoral campaigns.
Pearl remained active in the fur workers’ union by serving on union committees, often as the only woman. She also continued to do unpaid organizing work, pressing for equal pay for women. After moving to Winnipeg and then Vancouver in the late 1940s, Pearl returned to Toronto and continued organizing work. She was deeply embroiled in a split among Toronto’s fur workers between locals led by social-democrats and Communists. When the two unions merged in 1955, Pearl was dismissed and blacklisted.