Jack Munro, a Hero for Working People

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 15, 2013) - The president of the Canadian Labour Congress is describing Jack Munro who died on November 14 as a larger-than-life working-class hero.

"I knew Jack well and I can say that he was a hero for working people in British Columbia and all of Canada," says Ken Georgetti.

Munro died at age 82 at home in British Columbia of prostate cancer. He was a long time head of the International Woodworkers of America in British Columbia.

Georgetti says, "Jack was a pioneer who insisted that workers in his and other unions received family-supporting wages, and also that their working conditions were made to be as safe as possible. These were benchmarks and they will live on in his name."

In the 1980s, Munro was a key player in the Solidarity movement against the Social Credit government when it made drastic cutbacks in government social and attacked the labour movement.

Georgetti was president of the British Columbia Federation of Labour at the time and in 1987 he was charged with seditious conspiracy for his leadership against the government's draconian measures. The case was thrown out of court.

A private memorial is planned for Munro and labour organizations are also planning a memorial.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.3 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.

Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca

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