For CLC President
Bea Bruske has served as President of the Canadian Labour Congress since June 2021, when she became just the second woman to ever hold the position. As President, Bea has prioritized engaging affiliates on building solidarity within our labour movement, ramping up political action to make legislative gains for workers, and building up engagement among workers within our movement.
A graduate of the University of Manitoba’s Labour Studies program, Bea has served workers and families as an activist, workers’ advocate, negotiator, community organizer and union leader for over three decades.
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 strong for 124 days to achieve a fair contract at the Westfair grocery chain in Manitoba. Over the next several years, Bea took on numerous roles in her local as a shop steward, health and safety committee member, and vice-president, before being hired as a full-time union rep and negotiator where, she serviced and bargained for tens of thousands of Local 832 members.
In 2011, Bea was elected UFCW Local 832 Secretary-Treasurer, where she was responsible for administering the largest private-sector local union in Manitoba, with 20,000 members, while also continuing to bargain contracts with some of Canada’s largest employers.
Bea has also served as a Vice-President on the UFCW Canada National Council, and as a member of the UFCW Canada National Council Human Rights, Equity and Diversity Committee; as a trustee on a number of health and welfare trust funds; a trustee on the Manitoba Council of Health Care Union HEPP (Health Employee Pension Plan); three terms on the Manitoba Federation of Labour executive board; and as an employee representative to the Manitoba Labour Board from 2007 to 2018. Bea also served on the executive board of the Manitoba NDP.