Image Credit: Youtube: LabourHeritageCentre
November 15, 2013 - 11:24 AM
VANCOUVER - Jack Munro, a titan of the British Columbia labour movement for half a century, has died.
Munro, who grew up in poverty in rural Alberta, began what would be a long career in the labour movement while working in a sawmill in Nelson, B.C.
A charismatic character known for his blunt but colourful language, he climbed the union ranks to lead the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers in the province, and become vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Munro was at the centre of a provincewide Solidarity movement that brought British Columbia to the verge of a general strike in 1983, and then played a key role in settling the dispute with the provincial government.
In 1999, Munro was awarded an Order of Canada, and New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix says British Columbians have lost one of their greatest champions.
Munro lost a battle with cancer. He was 82.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013