Since Jim Sinclair was elected President of the 500,000 strong British Columbia Federation of Labour in 1999, Jim has established himself as a champion of the rights of all workers in British Columbia.
Jim's well known work following a catastrophic van accident and the poisoning of immigrant mushroom farm workers has led to significant regulatory reform in farm industry safety, and ensured a positive legacy for the families of those lost. Jim has also led a high profile fight for a higher minimum wage that resulted in the end of a discriminatory lower wage for new workers.
Under Jim's leadership, the B.C. Federation of Labour has established itself as the go-to authority on the exploitation of Temporary Foreign Workers and the undermining of Canadian wages and working conditions that results. Whether it was calling attention to a multinational mining company's refusal to hire Canadian workers, or pressing the Royal Bank of Canada to back down from its plans to contract out work to a TFW based supplier, Sinclair has put the flawed program squarely in the public spotlight.
Jim Sinclair joined the B.C. Federation of Labour after serving more than 18 years in the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union – CAW. During his career in the fishing industry, Jim served as associate editor of the Fisherman’s Newspaper, Health and Safety Director, staff representative and spent the last eight years as an elected leader of the union.
During his term at the Federation of Labour, Jim has helped the Federation has grown by more than 75,000 members as unions representing teachers and workers’ compensation board employees joined the central labour body. Jim began his working career as a journalist, working in both radio and print media. He was editor and contributor to Crossing the Line, a book on the North American Free Trade Agreement. He also served on the board of the Vancouver Richmond Health Authority for four years and on the board of BC Hydro for four years.