Date of birth: 
Place of birth: Bombarral, Portugal
Arrival in Canada:
Affiliations: Labourers’ International Union of North America’s Local 183

Victor Barreiras was born in Bombarral, Portugal. At the age of 9 he immigrated to  Canada with his parents. After completing Grade 11 at the Central Technical High School of Toronto at age 17, Barreiras decided to drop out of school and went to work as a tunneler, his father having found them the job. He later regretted his decision not to continue his studies. Eventually, Barreiras became a shop steward for the Labourers’ International Union of North America’s Local 183. Three years later, John Stefanini hired him an organizer in the residential construction sector, where the growing numbers of Portuguese construction workers were concentrated. In 1976 he was elected to the executive board of Local 183 and became the second Portuguese immigrant to hold an executive position in that union. [1]

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References

[1] “Local 183 Tenta Interessar os Sócios Portugueses.” Comunidade newspaper, January 31, 1979: 1, 6-7.