Huguette Plamondon (January 6, 1926�
Huguette Plamondon 1926 - 2010
», on the website of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (in French) - September 29, 2010Huguette Plamondon (1926 – 2010)
United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, October 4, 2010) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

ist in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. A trailblazer and leader in the Quebec, Canadian and international labour movements, she dedicated the bulk of her efforts to representing the

United Packinghouse Workers of America The United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), later the ''United Packinghouse, Food and Allied Workers'', was a labor union that represented workers in the meatpacking industry. Origin as the PWOC Background Between the mid-1800s and mid-1 ...

and then the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

, after the UPWA merged with the

Amalgamated Meat Cutters The Amalgamated Meat Cutters (AMC), officially the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, 1897–1979, was a labor union that represented retail and packinghouse workers. In 1979, the AMCBW merged with the Retail Clerks I ...

in 1979 to create the UFCW. She also served as a vice-president of the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was ...

from 1956 until 1988.

Early life

Plamondon was born on January 6, 1926, in Montreal. Her father was a member of the

Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America The Brotherhood Railway Carmen of America, commonly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), was a fraternal benefit society and trade union established in the United States of America. The BRC united railroad employees involved in the rep ...

. She entered the labour force as a stenographer at a steel plant, and when the

United Steelworkers of America The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...

started organizing the plant, Huguette became one of the campaign's most militant supporters.

Activism and career

In 1945, at the age of 19, Huguette Plamondon started working as a secretary in the Montreal office of the

(UPWA).France Laurendeau, �
Syndicaliste jusqu'au bout des ongles !
», on the website of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, excerpted from the book ''Ces femmes qui ont bâti Montréal'', Éditions du remue-ménage, 1994, p. 307 à 309 (in French) Shortly thereafter, she started organizing meatpacking workers in Montreal, and began a decades long career as a leading voice for food workers, and a trailblazer for one of North America's largest and most powerful unions. She became an active member of the Montreal Labour Council (''Conseil du travail de Montréal'') in 1953, which at that time was affiliated to the

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...

(CIO). In 1955 she was elected president of the Montreal Labour Council, and served in that role until 1958, thus becoming the first woman in Canada to lead a major labour organization. In 1956, she participated in the ''Rassemblement'', a short-lived political movement led by

Pierre Dansereau Pierre Dansereau (October 5, 1911 – September 28, 2011) was a Canadian ecologist from Quebec known as one of the "fathers of ecology". Biography Born in Outremont, Quebec (now part of Montreal), he received a Bachelor of Science in Agricult ...

and

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

. In 1956, she was elected a vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, thus becoming the first woman to achieve a Canada-wide union executive position. She held that office for 32 years, until 1988. From 1961 until 1966, she was a member of the Quebec Council of Economic Planification (''Conseil de planification économique du Québec''). In 1973, she was a member of the

Economic Council of Canada The Economic Council of Canada (originally the National Productivity Council) is a former Crown corporation that was owned by the Government of Canada and was established in 1963 under the ''Economic Council of Canada Act''. When the Council made ...

. She was vice-president of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

, nominating

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

for leader in 1961.Women in Canada - History timeline - Huguette Plamondon
on the website of the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada She served as an International Vice-President of the

. She was also the president of UFCW Canada Local 744P in Quebec. Near the end of her career, she was Executive Assistant to the UFCW Canadian Director, Clifford R. Evans. She was married to Romeo Mathieu, also a trade unionist. She died of a heart attack in 2010, at the age of 84.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plamondon, Huguette Trade unionists from Quebec New Democratic Party of Canada politicians 1926 births 2010 deaths Canadian Labour Congress people Canadian trade unionists United Food and Commercial Workers people Canadian women trade unionists Meat packing industry in Canada