Advantages & Benefits
A Porter's shoe
shiner
Sleeping car porters were often treated
as less than humans.
"[W]e were babysitters, not only for little kids but for adults."
- Herb Carvery, sleeping car porter
The Order of Sleeping Car Porters
(OSCP) was the first Black labour union in North America. It was formed because black workers wanted to improve their working conditions, but were not allowed to join white unions such as the Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad Employees (CBRE).
It was their home on the road. It was reliable connection to their community back at home, and a way to stay connected between communities and cities.
Sleeping Car Porters
Multiculturalism
West Indies Domestic Scheme
Porters wanted to
get their families into Canada
across the border
Music
Ragtime
Jazz
The Nightlife
"Wet city", Lack of Prohibition
Montreal (The Harlem of the North)
Little Burgundy
Community
Entrepreneurial Pursuits
Side Hustles
Smuggling goods on
and off the train.
Barbershops
Smuggling onto
and off of train
The Church
Black Neighbourhoods
Trainyards
Racism and Discrimination
Details of the Job
Poor working conditions
Living Conditions
Sleep in smoking room
72 hour average run
with no sleep other
than naps
Supplied with one
uncomfortable
seat
Responsibilities
Policing
Dealing with passengers who had had too much to drink
Looking after sick children and adults
Shining shoes & brushing off coats and hats
Greeting Passengers
& stowing baggage
Wages
Unionization
Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad Employees (CBRE)
Order of Sleeping Car Porters (OSCP)
