Canada’s largest private-sector union says former Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove has died. He was 81.
In a statement Sunday, Unifor says Basil (Buzz) Hargrove was “a beloved and iconic figure in Canada’s labour movement” who “was a tireless advocate for working people and a deeply respected leader.”
Hargrove was national president of the CAW from 1992 until his retirement in 2008, shortly before he reached the union’s mandatory retirement age of 65.
The CAW merged with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union in 2013 to become Unifor.
“A proud son of Local 444 and one of Canada’s most influential and passionate labour leaders,” he was described as in a social media post by Unifor Local 444 on Sunday.
“Buzz’s journey began right here in Windsor, on the shop floor, where he first found his voice in the fight for fairness. From Local 444 to the national stage, he never stopped pushing for justice — for working people, for equity, for dignity in the workplace,” said the statement by the local union.
Born in Bath, N.B., in 1944, Unifor says Hargrove grew up in a family of 10 children and began his working life on the shop floor of Chrysler’s Windsor, Ont., assembly plant.
As CAW president, Unifor says he led negotiations with major employers including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Air Canada and CN Rail, securing gains that elevated standards across sectors.
“He never forgot where he came from — and he carried that working-class spirit with him into every boardroom, bargaining session and public forum,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne in the union’s statement.
“His passion, his intellect, and his uncompromising belief in justice for working people shaped the labour movement we know today.”
Hargrove took over leadership of the CAW from Bob White, who led the union as it split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers in 1985.
The Canadian union, which disagreed with the UAW’s bargaining direction, negotiated some of the richest contracts for workers in Canada, and under Hargrove’s leadership it expanded beyond the auto industry into other sectors, including the airlines, mines and fisheries.
Unifor said that Hargrove was “a committed social unionist,” and pushed the CAW to fight for broader social justice issues including public health care, retirement security, equity, and fair trade.
“We owe him a debt of gratitude for everything he did to build a fairer Canada,” Payne added.
Former Local 444 president Ken Lewenza visited Hargrove in a Toronto hospital the day before he passed.
“I understood following the visitation that … we were at an end of life situation with Buzz,” he said. “I was surprised it happened so quickly, but I felt relieved based on the the pain and suffering he was enduring.”
According to Lewenza, Hargrove had been in and out of hospital for multiple issues over the past several months.
“I quite frankly just think his body broke down. I mean, that’s probably not the real diagnosis, but there was multiple issues in the last three or four months … created him significant pain and indifferences to a decent quality of life.”
Lewenza says Hargrove was a wealth of knowledge and “bookworm.”
He referred to him an inspirational friend and mentor to many in the labour community — calling him the most progressive leader in Canada during his time at the top of the CAW.
“(He) brought a wealth of knowledge on the objectives of representing workers and the goals of making progress for workers and economic and social justice for so many people throughout the world.”
“He was always reading. In fact, every morning he would get four or five newspapers delivered to him and he would go through them from the front to the back just to understand what was going on, not just in Canada but internationally.”
Hargrove on NHL labour talks
Hargrove told reporters upon his retirement that he wasn’t planning on taking it easy.
“I’m not going to sit in a rocking chair and I’m not going to play golf, that’s not my style,” Hargrove said at a news conference in Toronto in 2008.
His later activities included over a year with the NHL Players’ Association, working first on the union’s advisory board and then as interim ombudsman. He also served as director of the Centre for Labour Management Relations at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Hargrove was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.
Unifor said details on a celebration of his life and legacy will be shared in the coming days.
