Thursday June 27, 2013
For Immediate Release
Ottawa, ON – It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former IAM Canada Director of Communications, Neville Hamilton.
Neville came to the IAM in 1986 after spending five years as the administrative assistant to CLC President Dennis McDermott. First and foremost, Hamilton was a journalist whose career took him from the Sherbrooke Daily Record in 1957, to the Canadian Press in Montreal in 1959 before joining the Ottawa Journal in 1962
He then turned his numerous talents toward Public Relations, first as an information officer with the federal department of Manpower and Immigration before embarking on the second facet of his journalism career – as a spokesperson for the Canadian labour movement.
He held various positions in the Canadian labour movement including Director of Information for the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers in Montreal, Director of Public Relations for the United PaperWorkers International Union, and Executive Assistant to the president and Director of Public Relations for the Canadian PaperWorkers Union before moving to the Canadian Labour Congress. Hamilton retired from the IAM in the spring of 2004.
“Neville was a valued communicator for this union and the Canadian labour movement,” said IAM Canadian General Vice President Dave Ritchie. “Neville always believed that worker solidarity is our most precious tool. It is our foundation. From it comes our courage, strength and vision to pursue a better life. I want to pay the Neville the highest compliment our union can give and that’s to say he was a true Journeyman.” Neville Hamilton was 74.
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For further information:
Dave Ritchie – IAM Canadian General Vice President
416-386-1789
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications
416-386-1789 Ext #6331/416-735-9765
