Summary

Amber Hockin was born in Brantford, Ontario. She attended elementary school in Kitimat, B.C. and attended high school in Ontario. Amber left home at 16, and soon after that her interest in travel led her to become a flight attendant.

Amber was attracted to the labour movement because she says all the values the labour movement has are her values. She has always wanted people to be treated fairly. It was not surprising that while working as a flight attendant, Amber became concerned about the health and safety issues airline crews faced. This concern was the impetus for her becoming a health and safety advocate and trade union activist.

Amber’s health and safety advocacy resulted in her representing the CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Airline division in two major air accident investigations and inquiries, the 1989 Commission of Inquiry into the Air Ontario Crash at Dryden and the 1991 crash of the Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 operated by Nationair Canada.

Amber was subsequently employed by Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), where she held various roles, including national health and safety representative, national coordinator of education, and director of the Pacific region.

While working as the director of the CLC’s Pacific region, Amber ran to become president of the BC Federation of Labour. She was unsuccessful in what was a very close election. Soon after that, she began working as the director of operations for MoveUP.  From MoveUP, she was employed by the Horgan NDP government as the deputy chief of staff.

Throughout the interview, Amber discusses many ideas and themes. These include labour movement values, changes in the labour movement, the relationship between the labour movement and the NDP, and the differences in working for the labour movement and government.

Keywords

Flight attendants; Worldways Canada; health and safety; solar flares; CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Airline Division; Ontario Workers Health & Safety Centre; Air Ontario Flight 1363, Fokker F-28 crash 1989; Commission of Inquiry into the Air Ontario Crash at Dryden, Ontario; Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crash operated by Nationair Canada; Canadian Labour Congress (CLC); Canada Labour Code, Part II;  labour relations with staff unions; unions as employers; Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP); Unifor; adult education; labour education; racism; CLC Anti-racism Task Force; United Steelworkers Canada; MoveUP (Movement of United Professionals); BC Federation of Labour (BC Fed); BCGEU (British Columbia General Employees’ Union); BC New Democratic Party (NDP); BCTF (BC Teachers’ Federation); Dave Barrett government; labour’s connection to the NDP; sexism; working class values; Katherine Say; Sonia Hartwick; Richard Bowness; Richard Nolan; David Onyelo; Marilyn White; Bob White; Dick Martin; Ken Georgetti; David Rice; Art Kube; Jack Munro; Steve Hunt; Jim Sinclair; David Black; Irene Lanzinger; Jim Sinclair; John Horgan; Geoff Meggs; Don Bain

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