John Filo seemed genuinely amazed by the attention Saturday night as 100 community members gathered in Sudbury's Steelworkers' Hall to honour his contribution to the city.
“I'm not sure I'm really being honoured. It's somewhere between humbling me and humiliating me because most of the people who are speaking here tonight have contributed much more than I have,” said the 72-year-old retired labour leader.
Among the speakers at the NDP-organized event were Nickel Belt MPP Shelley Martel, former Nickel Belt MPP Floyd Laughren, Greater Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez and Sudbury and District Labour Council president Sandy Bass.
Filo was a geophysics instructor at Cambrian College for more than 30 years, and is the former president of the college instructors' union, OPSEU Local 655.
He was also the president of the Sudbury and District Labour Council and ran for the NDP in the Sudbury riding during the federal election in 1997, losing to veteran Liberal MP Diane Marleau.
Among other activities, Filo has also served as campaign co-chair of the United Way, and the director and treasurer of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra.
Filo came by his interest in union work honestly. His father, a Slovakian immigrant, worked in the steel foundry in Welland. He remembers when he was 10, the foundry workers went on strike.
"I saw the police brutality that occurred when the scab labour tried to get in to do the work. The police would swing batons against the people that were on the picket line.”
Unions give the “common person” a voice and make sure that everyone has enough to live on, said Filo.
“I believe in the trickle up theory. If you look after the people at the bottom, enough money will trickle up to the people who have control of things to make them very, very happy. That is completely the opposite to what the Conservatives believe.”
Bass told the crowd the Sudbury and District Labour Council was providing a $500 bursary in Filo's name to one Laurentian University labour studies student per year.
Martel said her favourite memories of Filo are from when he participated in public hearings regarding new bills the government was trying to pass.
He was always “very entertaining” at these hearings, she said.
She read from the transcripts of several hearings, including one in 1996 where he spoke about the introduction of video lottery terminals in Ontario. Filo said the odds of winning the jackpot was like hitting a target after dropping a dart from space.
John Closs, the current president of OPSEU Local 655, said Filo had an “often stormy” relationship with Cambrian's management as he tried to hammer out collective agreements.
At one point, management at the college tried to get students to complain about Filo's teaching skills. The students did the opposite of what they were asked, and gave their teacher glowing praise on their evaluation forms.
Brian Gatien, a lawyer who often represents management during contract negotiations, also praised Filo. "As a management side labour relations lawyer, I certainly appreciate the kinds of activities that John (Filo) put in to advance the cause of the working people in this community,” he said. “It's a wonderful evening where we can pay tribute to him.”
