Rob Ashton
- There are now 15 sources, 11 of which are secondary, and several of which are regarding his role as a labour leader rather than as an NDP leadership candidate. Wellington Bay (talk) 16:43, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
Rob Ashton | |
|---|---|
| File:Rob Ashton at ONDP Convention, September 2025.jpg Ashton in 2025 | |
| Canadian Area President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union | |
| Assumed office 2016 | |
| President | Bob McElrath Willie Adams |
| Preceded by | Mark Gordienko |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Tyler Earle Ashton July 21, 1976 |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Occupation | |
Robert Tyler Earle (Rob) Ashton[1] is a Canadian trade union leader. He has been president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union - Canada (ILWU - Canada), representing 17,000 workers in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, since 2016.[2] He is an official candidate in the 2026 New Democratic Party leadership election. His campaign was launched on October 1, 2025.[3],[4]
Ashton has been a longshoreman for more than 30 years. He was a member of ILWU Local 500 and later served as its business agent for five years and went on to serve as vice-president of ILWU for four years.[2]
He was elected first vice‑president of ILWU Canada in 2012.[5] In 2016, Ashton became president of ILWU Canada, representing approximately 8,000 longshore workers on the west coast. [6] Ashton has led the union through major contract negotiations, and through the two-week long 2023 British Columbia ports strike, during which he explained that the ILWU was seeking protections against outsourcing and automation, and a shorter agreement that addressed cost-of-living concerns.[7] A tentative deal to end the strike was rejected by the union’s leadership caucus as well as by the union membership who narrowly voted to reject the offer. A second deal was later approved by the membership.[8]
Ashton narrowly won re-election as ILWU Canada president by 40 votes, in July 2024, after being forced into a run-off against union vice-president Pat Bolen.[8]
In April 2024, he testified before a House of Commons committee in support of federal anti-strikebreaker legislation, citing the historical violence that replacement workers had provoked during the 1935 Battle of Ballantyne Pier[9] He has been outspoken in calling for the Canada Labour Code to be amended to curtail the power of the federal minister of labour to intervene in labour disputes by issuing back-to-work orders.[10]
Rob Ashton has also opposed proposed port expansions that rely on automated equipment, arguing they would eliminate existing jobs[11]
He is running for the 2026 New Democratic Party’s leadership against MP Heather McPherson, journalist Avi Lewis, and Campbell River city councillor Tanille Johnston.[12] He describes himself as “first working-class labour candidate” in the leadership election and was endorsed by Marty Warren, national director of the United Steelworkers Canada.[13] He argues that the NDP needs to protect jobs and domestic industries and "start taxing the rich, not the members of the working class."[14]
He was critical of the confidence and supply agreement the NDP had with the Liberals in the previous parliament having said in February 2025, ahead of the 2025 Canadian federal election, that as a result of the agreement the "NDP, federally, is in really bad shape," because workers were "running towards the Conservative Party."[15]
References
- ↑ "Current leadership contestants". Elections Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nay, Isaac Phan (October 6, 2025). "Q&A: 'We're all getting screwed. I've had enough'". The Times-Colonist (Victoria). Retrieved October 10, 2025.
- ↑ Legree, Davis (2025-10-01). "Labour leader Rob Ashton looks to 'shake up' NDP leadership contest". iPolitics. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ Thurton, David (October 1, 2025). "B.C. union leader becomes latest candidate in federal NDP leadership race".
- ↑ "Officers". BC Federation of Labour. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
- ↑ "International Trade Committee on Dec. 5th, 2023". Open Parliament. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ↑ Vescera, Zak (20 July 2023). "The Vancouver Port Strike May Be Over. Here's Why". The Tyee. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "ILWU president wins re-election in close vote". iPolitics. July 9, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- ↑ "Human Resources Committee on April 11th, 2024". OpenParliament. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ↑ "Union leader calls for an end to labour minister's powers to intervene in job disputes". CBC News. December 17, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
- ↑ Bulowski, Natasha (14 June 2023). "Unions and environmentalists team up in bid to sink B.C. port expansion project". National Observer. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ↑ Legree, Davis (24 September 2025). "NDP leadership contenders Lewis, McPherson still largely unknown to Canadian public: poll". iPolitics. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
- ↑ Ramzy, Mark (October 1, 2025). "'Eat the rich': Rob Ashton joins the race to lead federal NDP". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
- ↑ Thurton, David (October 1, 2025). "B.C. union leader becomes latest candidate in federal NDP leadership race". CBC News. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
- ↑ Thurton, David (February 22, 2025). "Is the NDP in trouble? Party faces an uphill battle if snap election is called". CBC News. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
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