Date: 1998
Location: Calgary
Profile: Gunter Bruckner served as the first full-time official of Calgary’s ATU Local 583. Born in Germany, Bruckner worked in flour mills before coming to Canada in 1952. After working on a Prince Edward Island farm for a year, he came to Calgary, working in construction and then for the Independent Biscuit Company (IBC), where he helped to organize a confectionery workers’ union local. He served as a shop steward and executive board member of the local before IBC closed. He then joined Calgary Transit as a cleaner and later trolley repairman. Bruckner participated in the two-month strike of Calgary Transit workers in 1961. When trolley buses were replaced by diesel, Bruckner apprenticed as a mechanic. First elected as a shop steward and executive board member of 583 in 1969, he became involved in negotiations and establishing an ATU Canadian council. In 1975, after being elected financial secretary/business agent, he set aside a building fund to allow 583 to buy their own building, and worked for the union to operate its members’ pension fund which had been poorly managed by the Alberta government. Bruckner fought long shifts faced by his members, and arbitrary, insensitive management decisions regarding particular workers.
Keywords: Business agent; Calgary Transit; Calgary Transit strike,1961; Confectionery workers’ union;Financial secretary; German immigrant; Independent Biscuit Company; Local 583, ATU; Mechanic; Shop steward.
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See also: Alberta Federation of Labour; Amalgamated Transit Union, Calgary and District Labour Council; Canadian Labour Congress; Occupational Health and Safety in Alberta