Nancy Hutchison - A Strong Woman Unionist and a Natural Leader
Nancy is renowned as a health and safety activist and a trailblazer. She was the first woman ever to be employed at the Campbell Red Lake Gold Mill in 1977 and has never stopped fighting for workers’ rights.
A Grassroots Activist
Nancy worked in the mining industry in Red Lake Ontario for 19 years working at both Campbell Red Lake Gold Mine and the Dickenson Gold Mine. She served as an executive member of USW Local 950 in Red Lake and active in the negotiating committee through numerous rounds of bargaining. In 1995, Nancy became an International Staff Representative with the United Steelworkers and was assigned to locals in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In 1997, she was promoted to the position of Steelworkers Health & Safety Coordinator for District 6 (Ontario & Atlantic Provinces) and in 2011 she was promoted again, this time position of USW Canadian National Health, Safety & Environment Department Leader.
Defender of Health and Safety
Nancy has earned her reputation doing extensive Health & Safety work and Workers Compensation survivor claims, mostly for widows and victims who died from occupational diseases. In 1989, she became an OFL Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) Instructor and in 1994 she became an Instructor for the OFL WCB Training Project (now Occupational Disability Response Team – ODRT).
Nancy has presented at numerous conferences and forums as a mine safety & health activist [read a letter from US Congressman George Miller]. She was one of the key coordinators of the Steelworkers ‘Westray Mine’ lobby on Parliament Hill that resulted in the passing of Bill C-45 to creat health and safety accountability changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. Nancy presented on behalf of the Steelworkers and the indigenous peoples of Utshimasits (Davis Inlet) in Northern Labrador to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Panel on the projected environmental impacts of the Vale (Inco) Voisey’s Bay Mine & Mill.
She has an impressive resume of health and safety expertise:
Nancy learned to be a champion of women’s rights from her days in the mine and has dedicated her career to challenging the barriers to the equitable participation of women. She has also been very active in global labour solidarity work and has travelled to Bolivia, Namibia and Germany.
Nancy was awarded the ‘Outstanding Individual Award’ in 1996 for the mining category from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, Northwestern Chapter, for work involving the hazards faced by pregnant women working in a toxic environment that involved excessive noise and chemicals.
Nancy is a graduate of the Humber College Social Services program and the Class of 2010 Harvard University Trade Union Program. She lives in Brampton, Ontario and has two sons David and Paul.
A Grassroots Activist
Nancy worked in the mining industry in Red Lake Ontario for 19 years working at both Campbell Red Lake Gold Mine and the Dickenson Gold Mine. She served as an executive member of USW Local 950 in Red Lake and active in the negotiating committee through numerous rounds of bargaining. In 1995, Nancy became an International Staff Representative with the United Steelworkers and was assigned to locals in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In 1997, she was promoted to the position of Steelworkers Health & Safety Coordinator for District 6 (Ontario & Atlantic Provinces) and in 2011 she was promoted again, this time position of USW Canadian National Health, Safety & Environment Department Leader.
Defender of Health and Safety
Nancy has earned her reputation doing extensive Health & Safety work and Workers Compensation survivor claims, mostly for widows and victims who died from occupational diseases. In 1989, she became an OFL Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) Instructor and in 1994 she became an Instructor for the OFL WCB Training Project (now Occupational Disability Response Team – ODRT).
Nancy has presented at numerous conferences and forums as a mine safety & health activist [read a letter from US Congressman George Miller]. She was one of the key coordinators of the Steelworkers ‘Westray Mine’ lobby on Parliament Hill that resulted in the passing of Bill C-45 to creat health and safety accountability changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. Nancy presented on behalf of the Steelworkers and the indigenous peoples of Utshimasits (Davis Inlet) in Northern Labrador to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Panel on the projected environmental impacts of the Vale (Inco) Voisey’s Bay Mine & Mill.
She has an impressive resume of health and safety expertise:
- Board member of the Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC)
- Board member of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)
- Member of the (Ontario) Mining Legislative Review Committee
- Executive member of Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Canadian Council
- Member of the Council of Governors appointed by the Federal Government for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
- Member of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) Health & Safety Committee
- Member of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) WCB Committee
- Member of the Workplace Safety North Mining Advisory Committee
- Member of the WSIB Chair’s Labour & Injured Worker Advisory Group
- Served as a member of the WSIB’s Occupational Disease Panel (ODP)
Nancy learned to be a champion of women’s rights from her days in the mine and has dedicated her career to challenging the barriers to the equitable participation of women. She has also been very active in global labour solidarity work and has travelled to Bolivia, Namibia and Germany.
Nancy was awarded the ‘Outstanding Individual Award’ in 1996 for the mining category from the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, Northwestern Chapter, for work involving the hazards faced by pregnant women working in a toxic environment that involved excessive noise and chemicals.
Nancy is a graduate of the Humber College Social Services program and the Class of 2010 Harvard University Trade Union Program. She lives in Brampton, Ontario and has two sons David and Paul.