Cathy Walker Interview: Canadian Union-Building
Cathy Walker was born in Vancouver, BC in 1949 and grew up in Burnaby. Her father was a member of the Machinists Union which influenced her perspective while growing up. She attended Simon Fraser University (SFU) during a time of fervent political activism by students and became involved in the Young New Democrats (YND) during the same time.
This interview was conducted by Sean Griffin and Bailey Garden on March 28, 2017 in Burnaby, BC. It is part of our Oral History Collection.
Cathy Walker was born in Vancouver, BC in 1949 and grew up in Burnaby. Her father was a member of the Machinists Union which influenced her perspective while growing up. She attended Simon Fraser University (SFU) during a time of fervent political activism by students and became involved in the Young New Democrats (YND) during the same time. She left school to pursue a working-class experience and began working at Cascade Electronics where she quickly became involved with the union, then the Canadian Association of Industrial, Mechanical and Allied Workers (CAIMAW). She became vice-president and eventually president of CAIMAW Local 1, along with running the union newsletter and actively servicing members through negotiations, grievances, workers compensation appeals etc. She later became Vice-President of Health, Safety & Environment for CAIMAW and came on full-time in that role when the union merged with the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) in 1992.