One of the most influential organizations in the history of Sudbury — USW Local 6500 — observed its 60th anniversary this week.
The event was celebrated Wednesday afternoon at the USW's Hospitality, Conference and Education Centre on Brady Street, also locally known as the Steelworkers Hall.
Scores of union members and well-known union leaders from past decades attended the event to meet old friends and coworkers and to remember and reminisce about the tens of thousands of Sudbury miners and refinery workers employed by Inco Limited and then later (2006) by mining giant Vale.
Over the years, the union local has represented and taken action on behalf of the hourly rated Inco and Vale employees with collective bargaining, strike action in some of the longest labour disputes in Canadian history and some of the most successful charity fundraising events in Sudbury.
Among those who took part in the anniversary party were Steelworkers international president emeritus Leo Gerard, retired USW Canadian national director Ken Neumann and USW District 6 director Myles Sullivan.
Large screens at the hall held a digital scrapbook presentation of photos, posters and memorabilia of union people and special events over the years.
A highlight of the evening was the presentation of a new charter to the local union president Nick Larochelle by USW director Sullivan. This replaces the original union charter document that was lost in the fire at the old Steelworkers Hall on Frood Road in 2008.
In speaking to the celebration Wednesday Larochelle said Local 6500 has had a vital role in the wider community, whether it was to take action on the labour front, to back a political cause, to fight for better health and safety or to support a charity.
"We have a rich and storied history that is well deserved and precedes us when and wherever we participate in any campaign. We continue to make significant contributions to this great community and we've been a part of building it over the last 60 years," he said.
Larochelle then introduced well-known former District 6 Director and past USW International President Leo Gerard. The crowd rose to its feet to give Gerard a standing ovation.
As he took the podium Gerard told the crowd that in all the years he was an international labour leader speaking at events across North America, he began every speech the same way.
"My name is Leo Gerard. I'm from the Local 6500, United Steelworkers in Sudbury, Ontario."
He said the local has built a solid and progressive reputation over the years for getting things done on behalf of its members.
Gerard said anything that has happened over the years in the Ontario labour movement. the Canadian labour movement and to some degree in the US labour movement, the Steelworkers and Local 6500 always played a part.
Gerard offered a quiet apology for not speaking with his usual "intensity".
"But the reality is, I love this union. And this union has been 60 years in the making. It didn't get made overnight, and is recognized around the world as a leading labor movement activist organization," said Gerard.
Also speaking was former Canadian national USW director Ken Neumann who noted that the influence of the local and its members can be seen by the fact that Canada's largest university, the University of Toronto, created a new chair in 2019 to recognize Gerard and the union. The U of T centre for industrial relations created the United Steelworkers/Leo Gerard Chair in Collective Bargaining and Worker Representation.
Neumann said as a steelworker he was proud to be associated with the union and will continue to work on fundraising for the university chair initiative.
Another key speaker at the event was District 6 Director Myles Sullivan, who brought with him the new Local 6500 charter document.
Sullivan said the history of the local is impressive in Sudbury and it led to many other groups of workers seeking to be associated with the Steelworkers.
"You know, Local 6500 was the first workplace representing workers at Inco. People saw that. They respected that. They wanted the same working conditions as the workers that 6500 had. And that's why today we represent over 75 workplaces on top of 6500 in the community that came on the pillar of what your local did, and that's what we do as steel workers. That's what it means."
Sullivan, who has his roots in Northern Ontario with a strong connection to Sudbury, said he is always proud to come back home and to see the prosperity in the city and he takes pride in knowing that Local 6500 has made a contribution to that.
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.
