Steelworkers union president Leo Gerard had a transformative approach to unionism

obituary

President of the United Steelworkers Union Leo Wilfred Gerard testifies on steel trade, energy and currency policies before the Congressional Steel Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, last year.

As a young smelter worker at Inco Ltd. in Sudbury, Ont., Leo Gerard once aspired to be an economics professor. Instead – unable to shake the image of silicosis-stricken miners he encountered as a child at the company clinic – Mr. Gerard embarked on a life of labour activism that propelled him to the helm of the United Steelworkers of America.

In addition to negotiating collective agreements, Mr. Gerard had a transformative approach to unionism that led him into corporate boardrooms to help restructure struggling companies in order to save jobs. He worked with governments in Canada