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Brown elected President for second 3 year term.
Winnipeg (23 June 2019) — Delegates to the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) re-elected Larry Brown as NUPGE President at its tri-annual convention in Winnipeg. This will be Brown's second term as President, after serving as the union's national Secretary-Treasurer for 30 years.
Larry has a wide range of experience to draw on, having spent over 3 decades honing skills in government, public administration, labour relations, teaching and legal issues. Born in southern Saskatchewan and raised on a farm there, Brown began his interest in social issues while at the University of Saskatchewan, where he served as secretary to the student union and President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Students.
While articling with a Saskatchewan law firm, Brown was hired by the provincial Department of Labour as Executive Secretary to the Task Force on Workers' Compensation. He later became Executive Assistant to the Deputy Minister of Labour, in which role he drafted precedent-setting legislation that gave workers the right to refuse dangerous work. Larry’s role in the movement continued, and became the Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Government Employees Association, now called the SGEU.
In 1986, he was elected as Secretary-Treasurer of NUPGE. In 2016, Larry was elected as President of the National Union.
Larry also serves as President of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), and is active on the international stage on behalf of NUPGE and its Components at Public Services International (PSI).
He has written and spoken extensively about public finances, debt and deficit issues, the changes in federal-provincial financing, public sector restructuring and the resulting changes in the economic and political structures of Canada that have occurred in the last decade.
"It has been an honour and privilege to represent working people for the majority of my life. Thank you for allowing me to continue in this work on your behalf," said Brown. "Working together, no matter the obstacles, we make a difference in people's lives. In the words of J.S. Woodsworth, ' What we desire for ourselves, we wish for all.' It's not just about doing the best for our members; it's about making the world a better place for everyone."