Wayne Lucas was a general labourer for a non-unionized contracting company in the early 1970s when he came upon his first picket line.
But even as an inexperienced 18-year-old, he knew its significance.
“I slammed on the brakes and the truck went sideways. No way was I crossing that picket line,” said Lucas, who at the time was there to pick up windows at a local company.
“My boss went ballistic because we were on a deadline, but I wasn’t doing it. I always respected someone who worked hard at their job and was trying to make a better life for themselves.”
That high regard for workers’ rights turned into a life-long passion for Lucas, who went on to become a long-serving president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Newfoundland and Labrador division.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” he said of his involvement with the province’s biggest union, which represents more than 6,000 employees and 42 union locals.
“Every single day for me has been like Christmas morning, because every day was something new, a different experience, learning new things. It’s been an adventure.”
Now, after 40 years as a CUPE member — 26 of them as president — Lucas is retiring.
The 64-year-old will officially step down Wednesday, when a new president is elected during the 44th annual CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador convention at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s.
“It’s time,” he said when asked why he made the decision. “I’ve been at it a long time and it’s time to let somebody else try their hand at it.”
Lucas first got involved in unions shortly after he began working as a carpenter for the then-Avalon Consolidated School Board in 1978, when employees’ pensions were the hot topic.
“I can remember in the early days, everybody was dragging their feet behind and complaining about the pensions,” Lucas said. “They weren’t getting a lot of support from anyone. They had no education on pensions and no one was stepping up to the plate.”
Lucas did just that and helped open members’ eyes to the importance of the pension plan, prompting more workers to contribute and retire with financial security.
“Now I want to make sure I get some of it,” he said, laughing.
In 1982, he took over as president of Local 2172 and was elected CUPE N.L. president in 1992. Between 1997 and 2001, he was general vice-president for the Atlantic Maritime region.
“I always believed in this little saying — you can’t let people piss down your neck and pretend that it’s rain,” said Lucas, who grew up in the Rabbitown area of St. John’s as one of six siblings.
“I just always stood up to people. It’s just something that was in me. I can’t remember having to back down too often. I always had the ability to argue my point.
“I learned early on that if you’re going to succeed, you’ve got to have somebody there to advocate on your behalf.”
Lucas said that when it comes to improving people’s lives, unions have made the most difference of any other societal group, including churches and political parties.
“It’s the common good of everybody that the union puts first and foremost,” he said. “And it’s not just collective bargaining.”
For example, he said, in early 2001, when new premier Roger Grimes revived a plan to sell water from Gisborne Lake, CUPE played a key role in having the plan scrapped, arguing water is not a commodity and selling it would mean the province would be charged tariffs.
That, along with fighting for pensions, were the biggest feats CUPE accomplished, he said.
Two years ago, after a 10-year battle, they gained ground on the Canada Pension Plan for all Canadians, not just union members.
Lucas is also proud that CUPE decided to align itself with the provincial NDP, “the political party that has been consistent with supporting workers and underprivileged here in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
He is also pleased with the union’s role in helping make advances for the LBGTQ community. He remembers when he served on the national executive board in the early 1990s, and debating spousal pension benefits in same-sex marriages for a member who is a lesbian.
“At the end of this long, gruelling debate, we decided we were going to take the federal government to court. We did just that and we won the case,” he said. “That opened the door for (the government’s decision to allow) same-sex benefits.”
The first strike he was involved in was the Avalon Consolidated School Board local’s strike in 1985, when employees were out for three weeks. They went on a one-day strike in 1998.
The job action resulted in the merger of seven locals with different pay scales, schedules and benefits.
“We haven’t looked back since, and the relationships between the employers and employees have been good since those days.”
Lucas also walked the picket line with locked-out municipal workers in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in 2015 in their fight for pension reform.
And he says CUPE helped save the jobs of library employees when the government planned to close dozens across the province.
He said he’s leaving with the union in a good financial position, with a $92-million strike fund in place.
“We’ve got 6,000 members. I didn’t meet all of them, but I’ve shaken a lot of hands over the years,” he said.
There’s still plenty of work to be done though, he added, including discussion about public pensions, as the government might be planning to toy with the plan. He also says the minimum wage should be higher to help make life more manageable for working people.
He says more work needs to be done to ensure workplace safety, too, and he hopes progress can be made for the employees of D-J Composites in Gander, who have been locked out by the company’s American-based owners since 2015.
However, he thinks CUPE N.L. will be left in good hands.
“There’s so much talent out there. There’s so many energetic young people who might have a different perspective on things than I have,” Lucas said.
He expects to be kept quite busy in his retirement.
“I just might paint the kitchen because my wife has been asking me for ages,” he said with a laugh, referring to his wife of 43 years, Patricia. “I’ve got lots of house repairs to do inside and out.
“My three daughters all have houses, too, so I expect they’ll be at me to do theirs, too, but it’s all good.”
He’s looking forward to spending time with his family, including his two granddaughters, Alyssa, 22, and week-old Amelia Mae.
“In the labour movement, we always say we don’t live to work. We work to live,” Lucas said.
“Now it’s time to do some living.”
Twitter: TelyRosie
