Linda Silas | |
---|---|
President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) | |
Assumed office 2003 | |
Preceded by | Kathleen Connors |
Personal details | |
Alma mater | Université de Moncton |
Linda Silas is a Canadian nurse and trade unionist. She is the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) since 2003.
Linda Silas grew up in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, a small community on the Restigouche River. Her father worked at the Abitibi newsprint mill, and served as president of the mill workers’ union local. [1]
Silas studied nursing at the Université de Moncton, where she graduated in 1983. [2]
Silas worked as a nurse in emergency care, critical care, and childbirth. [1] She soon became president of her union local. She was elected President of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, thus becoming the youngest nurses union center president in Canadian history. [2] She remained in that position for 10 years. [3]
In 2003, she was elected president of the CFNU, a position she still holds today. [2]
Under Silas's tenure, the CFNU remained a nonpartisan union center. However, Silas has been a vocal political actor on healthcare issues in Canada. [4] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she repeatedly called on provincial governments to hire more health care workers. [5] [6]
Linda Silas is longtime advocate of universal pharmacare. [7] She claims implementing this policy is especially urgent during a global pandemic. [8]
On 3 January 2020, Linda Silas announced she was running to become president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Canada's House of Labour. [9] Her candidacy was endorsed by major Canadian trade unions such as Teamsters Canada [10] and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. [11] However, she terminated her campaign in March 2021. [12]
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