Andrew Stewart
1933 -2012
Andrew (Andy) Stewart, a founding member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, died at the age of 79 in Ottawa on August 22, 2012.
Andrew, who entered the federal public sector at the Canada Department of Agriculture Research Station in Fredericton, New Brunswick quickly became involved in the staff association at the local level.
Andrew started his career at the national level of our movement in 1960 when he was elected 1st Vice-President of the Canada Agriculture National Employees Association, becoming its President in 1962. Re-elected President in 1963 and again in 1965. When the staff associations merged into the the PSAC, he became President of the PSAC's Agriculture Component, a position he held until 1970 when he was elected to the PSAC's Executive Management Committee as a Vice-President.
Andrew served the entire PSAC membership as its National President from 1976 to 1982. Upon being elected, Andrew proclaimed that "change is inevitable" and that "the next 10 years will be Alliance years, years of achievement and change", and indeed they were. Andrew was at the helm of our union during the historic 1980 CR strike; he fought to ensure the Public Service Staff Relations Act promoted collective bargaining; he protected bilingual bonus payments; and he fought against a system-wide hiring freeze.
In retirement, Andrew’s commitment to the union movement never wavered. He will be sorely missed.
Date Modified : 2012/08/24
