Labour stands diminished by the loss of Kevin Park

(Jan 23, 2007) -- 'Kevin Park, a well-known activist and staff representative with the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union," was a passionate life-long advocate of causes related to social justice.'

Kevin Park, a well-known activist and staff representative with the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) has died at the age of 61.

Kevin devoted his entire life to the Canadian labour movement. Prior to joining the BCGEU, he was a staff member with several well-known unions, including the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/NUPGE), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada) and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).

Kevin was especially proud of his work on the landmark 1986 strike at Gainers Foods in Edmonton, where the brutal use of scabs turned the public (even in Alberta) against owner Peter Pocklington, precipitating his decline as a businessman.

A memorable button from that strike said, "Gainers makes wieners with scabs." Gainers was eventually taken over by the province and it was later shut down.

Other memorable campaigns in Kevin's career involved organizing fish plant workers in Newfoundland, negotiating for workers at B.C. Place in Vancouver and fighting against the privatization of liquor stores by the government of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell. He was also involved in the fight to build a national child care system.

Campaigning against privatization

The campaign to save B.C.'s public liquor stores from privatization occupied much of Kevin's time in recent years. He rallied members, led demonstrations and presented numerous briefs to municipal councils, seeking and in many cases receiving their support.

Tens of thousands of signatures were collected and presented to provincial politicians. Among the passionate arguments he made were that privatization has resulted in higher levels of alcohol-related crime in Calgary and Edmonton and that government-owned liquor stores do a better job of discouraging sales to intoxicated customers and minors.

His obituary, published in Vancouver earlier this month, contained the following passage on the impact he had on colleagues, friends and family members.

"He inspired workers to use their collective power to fight for better working conditions and ultimately a more just world," it said, adding: "The breadth of his intellect and energy was reflected in his varied interests: bird watching, labour and military history, left political theory, landscape painting and in his later years, his grandchildren. Their daily visits were a source of joy and fascination to him."

Activism was a family tradition

Kevin's activism came naturally from his parents, Eamon Park and Anne Park.

His father was a former CCF legislature member in Ontario and he later played a role that remains evident to this day in the formation of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) when it was created from the former Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1961.

When debate bogged down on a name, he suggested the movement, which joined the CCF with the national labour movement, be called "the New Party." The suggestion was accepted and the name was later lengthened to the NDP. The elder Park later served as the party's secretary and president.

Kevin's mother was a social worker who remained an NDP activist until her death in 1991. His sister Patti was also a social worker who worked for Ontario's NDP government in the 1990s.

Kevin is survived by his wife Yvonne and children Gareth, Megan, Tammy, Jason and Ashley. He also leaves grandchildren Ashleigh, Madison, Mackenzie and Liam.

Memorial service Feb. 3

A memorial service for Kevin will be held Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. in the Operating Engineers Hall at 4333 Ledger Ave. in Burnaby, B.C. A separate service in Toronto is planned for a later date. Donations in his honour may be made to the Centre for Integrated Healing, Suite 200, 1330 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C, V6H 4A6 or to organizations dedicated to social justice.