Legendary BC labour leader Jack Munro dies at age 82

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – One of the most colourful political figures in British Columbia’s history has died.

The BC Federation of Labour says former forest industry labour leader Jack Munro passed away last night at the age of 82, losing a battle with cancer.

Munro, known for his blunt but colourful language, was president of Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers (IWA) Canada and former regional president of District One of the International Woodworkers of America.

OMNI Political Analyst Kim Emerson covered Munro and the labour movement for many years.

“Some people weren’t always happy with the way he got things done, but he got a lot accomplished for the labour movement, and I think that’s the way that people will remember him. He’s very significant in BC’s history; he’s one of the real characters, but he was also one of the real doers.”

“He never met a microphone that he didn’t like. Many, many times we covered him standing on the front steps of the Legislature, bellowing out the need for protection for forest workers,” adds Emerson.

“When he retired, he kept working; he never retired,” says Jim Sinclair with the BC Federation of Labour.

“Most recently, he spent the last five years working on making sure the history of working people in British Columbia gets told in the province. [It was a] lifetime of commitment; [he was] a fabulous negotiator, a tough fighter, and a person that everybody respected, no matter what side of the political spectrum you are from,” adds Sinclair.

Munro was at the centre of a province-wide Solidarity movement that brought BC 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.

“In Jack, people across this province had someone who fought for them, their rights to opportunity, dignity and respect for their hard work, fair wages and to pensions in exchange for their valuable contributions to BC’s economy,” reads a statement from the BC NDP, which says the province has lost one of its greatest champions.

“It is a true understatement that without Jack’s tenacity and principles, British Columbia would be a very different place today.”