Obituary: Hamilton IBEW leader Barry Fraser ‘had lots of guts’

Barry Fraser was a union leader who was at the centre of an episode in the 1980s that made headlines and rattled the national leadership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

He was one of six officers - known as the Fraser Six" - who were charged with disloyalty by the union for pushing for a special meeting to review concessions in the 1985 contract.

After a trial and conviction in 1986, IBEW national leader Ken Rose removed Fraser as vice-president of Hamilton Local 105, barred him from holding any union post for five years and banned him from attending meetings for 18 months.

It was quite a turn for Fraser, who had served as president of the Hamilton Building Trades Council, business manager for Local 105 from 1975-1984 and president of the Ontario Building and Construction Trades from 1981-1985. Fraser called the trial and sentence a display of wrath and viciousness" but friends and family said he wouldn't have regretted going down that path.

Rose, IBEW vice-president and leader of Canadian members, said the penalty was not harsh, but he was bothered by criticism of his decision and calls he was behaving like a dictator.

Fraser, who died April 22 after a battle with Mesothelioma at 80, had rattled the IBEW for years. This was in an era where there was a push for Canadian autonomy and democracy in unions - the Canadian Auto Workers formed in 1985 after breaking away from the UAW.

Fraser was in that mould. He long advocated greater autonomy for the building trades unions and faced a disloyalty trial in 1982 for being the only one of 99 IBEW officers from across Canada who opposed a decision by Rose to take 400,000 construction workers out of the Canadian Labour Congress. No penalty was imposed.

He had lots of guts," said his daughter Wanda, a B.C. insurance adjuster. If he saw something wrong, he would go right to it. He wasn't afraid of anyone. He didn't get pushed around."

Val Patrick, who sat on the Hamilton and District Labour Council with Fraser, said he had great resilience.

Nothing could ever knock down his fighting spirit nor diminish his positive attitude maintained in the face of any adversity," said Patrick in an email.

Royce Arnold, who met Fraser while both were working on the now demolished Scott Park High School in 1964 (Fraser was the job steward), said he was a good leader who played a role with his brother, Terry (also one of 'the Fraser 6"), in fighting concessions.

Barry was a class guy," said Arnold, who served as assistant business manager and treasurer of Local 105. He felt very responsible to the members of the union. He was thinking of the members all the time."

Fraser was born in Timmins on Jun 7, 1940, to Harold and Lenore Fraser. His father was a mine worker and an electrician, and his mother was a homemaker. The family came to Hamilton when Fraser was about two. He attended St. Helen Catholic Elementary School and Delta Secondary School. Arnold said his friend left school after Grade 10 and followed his father into the electrical field.

After his penalty, Fraser worked on jobs such as one at the Darlington nuclear generating station in Bowmanville. In the early 1990s, he went to work for the CLC as a staff representative, and friends said he was tasked with bringing construction trades back into the congress. According to Arnold, he did an excellent job."

Fraser retired at 60, but Arnold and Patrick said he was still sought out for advice from union leaders.

In his spare time, Fraser liked to go boating and read. He served as president of Royal Harbour Resort (which he helped turn around from receivership in 1995) in Thornbury, and in 2000 bought a cottage in Port Maitland. There he served as vice-president of the Port Maitland Historical Society and helped organize the day surrounding the unveiling of a historical cairn in 2015.

Society president Bill Warnick said Fraser could always be counted on for help.

He always had a great sense of humour," said Warnick. He was one of the nicest guys I ever met."

Fraser is survived by his daughters Wanda and Leanne, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and brother Terry. He was predeceased by his wife Margaret in 2017. He was also predeceased by daughter Lauri and four siblings.

Daniel Nolan can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com