Jim Sinclair honoured by Unifor members

 In his last public speech before the BC Federation of Labour meeting where he will step down, Federation president Jim Sinclair made it clear he will remain politically active in the labour movement long after he leaves office.

“Whatever happens and once that title after my name is gone, I will be with you fighting for the Canada we want,” Sinclair told Unifor’s BC Regional Council this morning.

"It's just an ugly rumour that I'm retiring."

A member of Unifor, Sinclair is stepping down this week as president of the BC Federation of Labour. Yesterday, delegates to BC Regional Council voted unanimously to endorse Irene Lanzinger as the new president to be chosen this week.

Several speakers at the regional council took the opportunity over the past two days to praise Sinclair.

“Jim Sinclair has been a champion for working people for 30 years.” BC Regional Joie Warnock said, thanking Sinclair for his leadership.

Unifor National President Jerry Dias praised Sinclair for all he has done to build the labour movement in Canada, his dedication to fighting for all workers, whether unionized or not, and his support for workers in struggles with their employers.

Sinclair used his farewell speech to talk about the struggles ahead to preserve Medicare in the face of a court challenge in BC by a private clinic to allow two-tier healthcare, and the importance of defeating Stephen Harper in the federal election next year.

“If we don’t win this election, we will spend the next four years going backwards,” Sinclair said. “We need to kick Stephen Harper out of office and get back to building this country.”

The stakes are high in this election, Sinclair said. The Harper government believes the answer to every problem is to cut taxes and convert public services to private enterprise – changing Canada from a country where we care for one another to one where we fend for ourselves.

“The country we want doesn’t look like the Canada he wants,” Sinclair said of Harper.

Sinclair said the labour needs to must play an active role in the next election, and rejected any argument that unions should stick to bread and butter issues at the bargaining table, and not get involved in politics.

“The bargaining table is directly connected to the ballot box,” Sinclair said.

“We have to mobilize and fight like hell.”