Labour Centre auctions off last belongings

THUNDER BAY -- Rows of abandoned office furniture was all that was left of the worker’s movement that has occupied the Lakehead Labour Centre since the 1960s.

The centre was deemed prohibitive to repair in 2012. The Intercity neighbourhood building will be torn down in the spring to make room for a strip mall and pharmacy.

Eighteen bidders signed up for Saturday’s auction to buy what the unions left behind.

“This building is here because all of labour came together,” lamented Janet Paterson, a member of the Thunder Bay and District Injured Workers Support Group.

“We always talk about strength in numbers and that’s something that I think is going to be missed.”

Half a dozen unions held offices in the centre when the owning United Steelworkers and United Food and Commercial Workers decided to demolish the building and dissolve the philosophy that there was a mutual advantage to having organized labour under one roof.

Proceeds of the auction were donated to the Moses Sheppard Scholarship Award, a fund founded in 2010 to recognize students who need financial assistance to achieve higher education. 

Robert Larocque was the morning’s auctioneer. He said the injured worker support group has been offered space in the Canadian Injured Workers office until long-term arrangements can be made. 

“Obviously, it’s a change,” he said.

“You’ve got to move forward but the labour centre itself is iconic to the labour community.”