Biography
Marty Warren was elected as United Steelworkers National Director for Canada, as of March 1, 2022, representing the union’s more than 225,000 Canadian members. He succeeded Ken Neumann, who retired after serving as USW National Director for 18 years.
Prior to his election as National Director, Warren served as USW District 6 Director for nine years. Throughout his career, he has built a well-earned record as a consensus-builder who doesn’t shy away from tackling the daunting challenges facing the union movement, USW members and all working people.
“Canadian families are facing some of the toughest economic and social challenges we have seen in generations. Our working and living standards are under constant attack by corporations and right-wing politicians who do their bidding,” Warren says.
“Our union, and the labour movement, must fight back like never before. We will cultivate an environment that develops our next generation of activists and leaders. We will engage and empower our members, their families and all Canadians to be politically active.
“When we mobilize, we will be loud, determined and relentless in what we believe is right and just. We will work together with our political allies to push governments at all levels for change that makes life better for workers and that builds stronger communities.”
The son of a unionized ironworker, Warren has been a labour activist for three decades. He joined the United Rubber Workers (URW) in 1984 while working as a tire builder at the BFGoodrich Tire plant in his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario. Within a year, he was elected to his first local union position as a shop steward, and quickly earned a reputation as a gutsy and determined activist, leading several sit-downs and in-plant protests.
In 1991, by which time his local had grown to more than 1,000 members, Warren was elected to his first executive board position. The following year he rose to Vice-President of his local and held the position for six years. It was during this period that he also became a proud Steelworker as a result of the 1995 merger of the USW and United Rubber Workers.
Warren became president of USW Local 677 in 1998 and led the local for six years, a challenging and often turbulent period that included three labour disputes at the BFGoodrich plant. He was hired as a full-time USW Staff Representative in 2004, and in April 2012, he was appointed Assistant to the District 6 Director.
As National Director, Warren has pledged to a proactive and collaborative leadership approach to build on the USW’s unmatched legacy of defending workers’ rights and fighting for social and economic justice.
“Leadership is the challenge of bringing people and ideas together, respecting each other’s differences, and making decisions that build solidarity and encourage and support our current and future activists. It is about constant change, ensuring our union evolves, doing the hard work required to meet our members’ expectations, needs and hopes for a better future,” he says.
“It is with an overwhelming sense of responsibility for our members, our union and our communities that I have the honour to serve as the United Steelworkers National Director for Canada.”