Remembering labour leader Bob White, 81

Brother Bob White, one of the most influential modern Canadian trade unionists, passed away on February 19, 2017.

White was critical to building the Canadian labour movement. A union leader  beginning in his teens, White was a member of the United Auto Workers, which was based in the United States. In 1984, White led the Canadian members of UAW to split off from its American parent union to found the Canadian Auto Workers. CAW became the largest private sector union in Canada and more recently merged with the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union to become Unifor.

Following White’s tenure at CAW he went on to serve as president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

In SEP President Scott Travers’s letter of condolence to Unifor, he also noted White’s leadership in human rights activism, particularly as an opponent of Apartheid in South Africa.