Windsor labour leaders pay tribute to Buzz Hargrove

Friends and family gathered to honour labour titan Buzz Hargrove over the weekend.

Former friends and colleagues of late labour leader Buzz Hargrove paid tribute to the former president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) on Sunday afternoon.

At a celebration of life in Windsor, longtime union representatives remembered Hargrove as a person who was always willing to listen and promote inclusivity.

Hargrove died on June 15 at the age of 81.

In recalling his interactions with Buzz, Earl Dugal, the former Plant Chair at Plant 2, found Hargrove was always willing to lend an ear.

“He was one of the persons that you could actually sit down and talk to, and he would listen to you, and basically not say that he would agree with you, but he listened to what you had to say,” Dugal told a small crowd at the Unifor Local 200/444 Union Hall.

“He’s going to be missed by everyone there’s not doubt about it.”

Hargrove is often remembered for his work at a time of transition, when Canadian union leaders separated from the United Auto Workers Union in the 1980’s

In the late 80’s, Hargrove was one of two assistants to Robert White, who spearheaded the creation of the Canadian Auto Workers union.

During his tenure as vice-president and then president at Local 200, Alex Keeney found Hargrove to be a man ahead of his time, particularly in how he viewed people.

“He said there’s a lot of people out there whether it be workers of color, it be women, it be the LGBTQ people, there’s a lot of people with good ideas and good energy,” Keeney told CTV News.

“He had done all that before it became the popular thing to do.”

Walking the fine line, Keeney said Hargrove did the “hard” job of becoming well-respected by both workers and corporations.

After the local tributes, attendees tuned into a Unifor-wide tribute being held in Toronto and livestreamed.

Featuring national union leaders, former politicians, and family, a similar picture of Hargrove as a fair fighter for workers was painted.