Bea Bruske, President, Canadian Labour Congress
Bea Bruske was elected President of the Canadian Labour Congress at the 29th Constitutional Convention in 2021. She is only the second woman to hold the position.
For more than three decades, Bea has served workers and their families as an activist, advocate, negotiator, community organizer and labour leader.
Bea’s passion for the rights of working people was ignited in 1987 when she and her UFCW Local 832 co-workers held the line for 125 days to achieve a fair contract at the Westfair grocery chain in Manitoba.
Julia Quiñonez Amparan
A Social Worker by training, Julia took part in the Gender Academy at the International Training Center of the ILO, Turin, Italy, and has a University Diploma in Methodology of Popular Education.
Julia has represented Mexican maquiladora workers at the Social Summit in Copenhagen, the World Women’s Conference in Beijing, in Central America and in more than 25 cities in the United States and Canada.
She is the Director of the Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Workers’ Committee – CFO), promoting gender equality and respect for the fundamental human and labour rights of maquiladora workers on the Mexican northern border.
THOMAS M. CONWAY, USW International President
Thomas M. Conway has served as International President since 2019.
In 1978, Conway became an activist in Local 6787, he later served as USW staff and was elected International Vice President in 2005,
Conway has been a leading voice in calling for transformational infrastructure investment that will help build safer communities and foster good, union jobs now and into the future.
He is now leading the charge in organizing more workers into the labor movement, extending the benefits of union representation to workers in a variety of fields from manufacturing to higher education.
Eleanor Noble
The National President of ACTRA, Eleanor is also Vice-President of ACTRA Montreal.
Committed to creating safe sets across Canada and broadening diversity in all aspects of the film and television industry, Eleanor is the creator of the Casting Standards Committee in Montreal.
Eleanor oversaw the adaptation of ACTRA National’s guide for Best Practices for Scenes Involving Nudity, Intimacy, Simulated Sex and Sexual Violence.
Eleanor’s screen credits include Incendo’s Seasoned with Love, CBC’s Detectives, I.D.’s Fatal Vows and APTN’s Mohawk Girls. Voice performance credits include Arthur, Disney’s Trulli Tales, Netflix’s Maggie & Bianca: Fashion Friends and video games such as Assassin’s Creed.
Jagmeet Singh, Leader, Canada’s NDP
Jagmeet Singh is a lawyer, human rights activist, and former Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario. Jagmeet understands the struggles Canadians are facing because as a young man, he had to step up and take care of his family.
Recently, Jagmeet and his Caucus delivered the greatest expansion of universal health care in generations, with the creation of a dental care program and concrete steps towards national pharmacare.
Jagmeet is driven to make sure government delivers for people with support for good-paying union jobs and stronger services that help create a better future for everyone.
Michel Pilon
For more than 40 years, Michel Pilon has worked for the protection of workers’ rights in Quebec.
A graduate in law, political science and community economic development, Michel has been active in student associations, president of the Holiday Inn hotel union and worked for 19 years at the Foundation for Aid to Injured Workers (FATA) alongside trade unionist and Quebec socialist Michel Chartrand, until his death in 2010.
In 2017, Michel founded the Assistance Network for Migrant Agricultural Workers in Quebec, (RATTMAQ), to defend temporary migrant workers’ rights and assist with immigration, health, education and francization.
Roxanne D. Brown
The United Steelworkers International Vice President at Large, Roxanne Brown oversees the union’s public policy and legislative agenda as well as its political work.
For more than two decades, she has worked with Steelworkers members and allies to advance worker-friendly policies with regulatory agencies and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
She has extensive experience in manufacturing, environmental and energy policy. Brown is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, was a founding Steering Committee member of the BlueGreen Alliance and is a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU).
Sara Mojtehedzadeh
Sara Mojtehedzadehis a Work and Wealth reporter on the Toronto Star’s investigations team. The Atkinson Foundation is working with the Star to increase coverage of issues related to income and wealth inequality. The Work and Wealth Beat was created to this end.
Sara reports on the changing workplace, including precarious work, labour issues and workers’ compensation. Her work has been recognized by the Hillman Foundation prize for social-justice oriented investigative journalism. She received the Journalists for Human Rights /Canadian Association of Journalists Award for human rights reporting in 2017.Previously, Sara worked for the BBC World Service.
Sheila Block
Sheila Block is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Sheila’s research focuses on Canada’s labour markets, public finance and inequality. Sheila has worked in the labour movement, including 10 years in the United Steelworkers’ national office research department.
Simon Dubbins
Serving as the Director of International for Unite the Union since 2007, Simon Dubbins has worked extensively in the European and International Trade Union movement for the last three decades focusing on trade union work and representation in multinational companies, international political representation and solidarity work with unions and human rights movements in many countries including Colombia, Palestine, Turkey, Iraq, and various other countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Dubbins obtained his doctorate at the European University Institute, Florence and is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation and Vice-President of UNI-Europa.
Valarie King
Edebwed Ogichidaa Kwe, or “She who speaks the Truth, Warrior woman leader.”
Mkwaa dodem. Bear Clan. New Credit doonjibaa.
Valarie King is a Mississauga of the Credit, Bear Clan, and has lived on Mississaugas of the Credit all her life. A skaabayis (helper) in the community, she strives to bring the sacred bundles of traditional teachings back to the people, works with traditional medicines and offers traditional programs for healing, holistic counselling and herbal teachings.
A Chartered Herbalist, she has her ECE and a master’s degree in Indigenous Social Work. She and four of her daughters are Juno Award nominees and Canadian Indigenous Tourism Award Winners.