Search Content

Mike Dumler's union career in the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) included many elected and staff positions. After coming to Canada from the United States as a Vietnam War veteran, Brother Dumler joined CUPE in Nanaimo. He became President of Local 401, and eventually became the first full-time President of CUPE BC. He participated in the Operation Solidarity movement of 1983, and was charged, along with other labour leaders, with sedition by the provincial government in 1987. His…

John Jensen was a Danish-born union and community activist in Northwestern B.C. He was an active member of the Carpenters' Union and a delegate to the Kitimat and Terrace District Labour Council for 50 years. He became coordinator of the Labour Studies Program at the Northwest Community College soon after it was established. Jensen also describes his environmental activism, and the accomplishments of the Northwest Study Conference which developed very early and lasting relationships between…

Judy Darcy started out as an enthusiastic public speaker and leader in her kindergarten days in Sarnia, Ontario, and has never looked back. Judy was very active in the student movement and in the women's movement, including being on the Abortion Caravan in 1970. This activism set the stage first for her rank-and-file involvement with CUPE as a library worker in Toronto, then leading her local union, eventually heading the Metro Toronto CUPE Council, and then sitting on the CUPE National…

Bernice Kirk began her union career at the Coquitlam School Board, and became the Secretary-Treasurer and President of CUPE BC, as well as a Vice President of the National CUPE Board. She was a leader in the fight for pay equity for women workers and worked full-time for the union for 20 years. "It was a big part of my life, but I really liked what I was doing. I liked helping people. I appreciated the work that everyone did." Bernice Kirk passed away on May 5, 2022.