The Feisty feminist is back
Mere months after moving back to Regina — where her support for workers once got her handcuffed and arrested — Barb Byers stood again on the frontlines of social activism.
And she admits it felt good — both to be back at home, and standing up against injustice.
Last month in the Queen City, Byers joined hundreds in a march for women’s rights and an end to sexual violence.
Many carried #MeToo signs — a two-word hashtag that has gained steam globally to demonstrate widespread sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
“It brings me strength when I see instances like #MeToo, Times Up, the Golden Globes, the women who work as room attendants in hotels saying to their employers, 'We want panic buttons because of assaults in hotel rooms,' " she says. “And the women who work in the agricultural industry in California who stood with women from a very different economic class who were standing up against the Harvey Weinsteins.”
The fight against sexual violence is not new for Byers, a tireless activist for women’s interests who is best known in her home province as the president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour.
Saskatchewan is my home. I missed it every day that I was gone. – Barb Byers
I was especially proud to see him, a past Regina Police Service member and cop from Saskatchewan, lead the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. He is influential and highly respected in policing across the country. — Corey Zaharuk
She spent the past 15 years working for the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa, returning home in June.
The labour leader first began raising awareness about sexual harassment decades ago, so it’s no wonder Byers believes the #MeToo movement is long overdue.
“For every woman’s voice that comes forward, there are 10 more that get the courage, and there are a thousand who may never be heard,” she says. “And the numbers just keep growing.”
In light of recent sexual misconduct allegations against prominent male federal politicians, Byers says: "I wonder what some of the men that we all knew about in the Saskatchewan legislature are thinking about right now. Certainly, there were ones that people knew about.
“When you found out that someone’s daughter had got a job as a page in the Leg, there would be the quiet discussions about, 'Remember to tell her to stay away from ******** ' and 'Don’t get in an elevator with ******** ,' " she says. "I think that as the hashtag goes, 'It’s time.'
“I think we all have to hold responsibility for not having done something at that time. I take that responsibility as being a woman who knew, who was out very much fighting against sexual harassment, but didn’t call every instance that we knew about.”
However, she notes in 1991, the SFL brought to light and won “an extreme sexual harassment case” involving two women at Dairy Producers in Saskatoon.
“We did a lot of work on it, a lot of work,” Byers says.
“So we did give voice to other women to come forward and talk about it. It meant that there were also some stories that we either didn’t hear or didn’t know what to do with when we heard them.”
Active in the labour movement since the late 1970s, Byers joined the Saskatchewan Government Employees’ Association — later the SGEU — and became the union’s first female president in 1984.
During that era, she did a session on sexual harassment for the Department of Rural Affairs.
“At that point, what people were focusing on was the guy who had pin-up calendars in his office and those kind of things,” Byers says. “That was considered revolutionary — that we would actually go in and do a session with people in the department on sexual harassment.”
A lot of the work that I did around workplace skills and labour force development, I was able to do it, I think effectively at the national level, because I had a strong base of having done it here in Saskatchewan. — Barb Byers
When she became president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) in 1988, she was a champion of workers.
Byers fought to maintain public services and to increase workplace safety, equality for all, the minimum wage and labour protection for all workers.
Her activism on the morning of Dec. 9, 1988 landed Byers behind bars.
She was among union members and a Canadian Auto Workers’ representative from Winnipeg who threw their support behind a small group of workers locked out of a Massey Ferguson plant in Regina’s industrial area.
The union members went in and occupied the building.
“We weren’t going to hurt anybody or destroy anything,” Byers says. “The idea was just to get the scabs out of the plant. We actually got into the plant and then they closed the area where the scabs were.”
About 30 protesters got into an office area.
“The police were there in like a nanosecond,” Byers said.
“If you hollered murder, I’m not sure they would have got there as fast ... They were going to arrest everybody.”
Byers convinced the officer in charge to give the protesters a few minutes to decide whether to stay or leave. In the end, eight from the union movement and four plant workers stayed. All were arrested.
“When we went to walk out the door, my arresting officer said, 'Can you put your hands behind your back please?' And I said, 'You’re not going to handcuff me?' And he said, 'Yeah, it’s policy. I have to handcuff you.' "
Her pleas to stay uncuffed went unheeded.
“I was the only woman arrested,” Byers says.
Walking out of the building, people cheered her on.
“When we got to the paddy wagon, the officer was taking my handcuffs off and Hugh Wagner from the Grain Services Union was already in the wagon and he said, 'Byers, are you handcuffed?' And I said, 'Didn’t they handcuff you guys?' And he said, 'Nope.' "
At the police station, the group was booked, including Byers who was fingerprinted and had her mug shot taken.
“There was nobody in the women’s cells. They had to bring in a matron for me, which was good because I think she came in on overtime,” Byers says laughing. “What we didn’t know was that all of the media were upstairs milling around, and the police weren’t going to let us go until they got rid of the media.”
In the cells, Byers was antsy because she was scheduled to attend a human rights vigil. The SFL president didn’t make it. Later she was told the vigil was sombre until the crowd heard Byers couldn’t attend because she was in jail.
“People started to laugh because there was this irony,” she says.
The dozen rabble rousers were released and charged with mischief, the least of the criminal charges they could have faced, and released on their own recognizance.
Court proceedings dragged on until the end of February when there was a proposed deal.
“If one person took the charge, there would be an agreement for a conditional discharge — after a year the criminal charge would disappear,” Byers says.
Not wanting employees to have a criminal record, the CAW rep stepped forward to be charged.
Byers’ time in the gaol left a lasting impression on her arresting officer.
The next year, around Christmas time, she was stopped at a police check and asked if she’d had anything to drink. She replied only a glass of wine for supper.
When the officer spotted the blue ribbon on her car aerial indicating her support for Regina police who were in contract negotiations, he looked closer at her and said: “Oh, Barb. It’s me!”
“I thought, 'OK.' Then he said, 'I’m the guy who arrested you.' It was like we were soulmates,” Byers says chuckling.
Throughout her time in the union movement, she’s made numerous contributions.
While serving with the SFL, Byers founded the Summer Camp for Youth in Saskatchewan, which introduced young people to principles of social justice and the labour movement, and co-founded the Prairie School for Union Women in 1997.
For a long time, she was reluctant to acknowledge her key role in establishing the groups until some women said to her: “You have to say that you’ve done these things. Otherwise, young women don’t know that it was a woman that started this,” Byers recalls.
“The default still in a lot of people’s heads is that it must have been a man who got it going,” she adds wryly.
If home is where the heart is, Byers leaves no doubt that she loves being back in Saskatchewan.
At the end of June, she happily returned to Regina from Ottawa where she was secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
“Saskatchewan is my home,” Byers says emotionally. “I missed it every day that I was gone. It’s been my home. I never intended to leave until five very wonderful feminist women convinced me to run for the CLC position in 2002. There was never any doubt in my mind that we would come back to Saskatchewan.”
Her love of the province and her ardent activism is reflected throughout her south-end home.
A sign posted at the front door promotes signing a petition to support Saskatchewan Crowns.
Tucked on a table in the living room is an exquisite elk carving by Stan Sugar. She treasures the carving that she received when she was selected for the Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award from the YWCA Regina last year.
The carved eagle and the woman holding the flame represent strength, willpower and determination while the feathers show honour and respect.
In her upstairs study, tied-back curtains have a special place in her heart. In 2005 — the province’s centennial — the panels were on display in the national capital.
“If you go to Ottawa every summer, you’ll see these banners that hang and they have one for all of the provinces and territories,” Byers says. “They were a gift from a woman I worked with because she knew how homesick I was for Saskatchewan.”
While in Ottawa, she kept her Saskatchewan Roughrider season tickets for 15 years. Although Byers only attended one game a year, it was important that she show the Green and White her support.
Her husband, Gerry Jones, isn’t from Saskatchewan, but agreed to return to the land of the living skies provided they spend some of the winter in the warmer climes of Cuba.
Born and raised in the province, Byers spent the first 20 years of her life in Saskatoon.
“When I left there to go work in Yorkton as a social worker, I always thought I would go home to Saskatoon, but then life ended up with me returning to Regina and I spent 30 years here,” she says.
While Ottawa was a beautiful city with wonderful amenities, Byers never put down roots there. That was in stark contrast to her time in Regina where, following a meeting with members of the SFL, she often dropped off leftover sandwiches or doughnuts at Transition House.
“I just never got those connections in Ottawa,” Byers says.
For her first 12 years in Ottawa, she had varied responsibilities in her role as executive vice-president of the CLC. As the Canadian worker representative to the International Labour Organization, she attended meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.
“It’s an incredibly interesting organization because it’s the only tripartite body of the United Nations,” Byers says. “There are representatives there from governments, as in other UN agencies, but also representatives of workers from around the world and employers.”
As one of 14 worker representatives, she was the officer responsible for areas such as the women’s department, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer (GLBQ) movement, disability rights, unemployment in- surance and medicare.
“A lot of the work that I did around workplace skills and labour force development, I was able to do it, I think effectively at the national level, because I had a strong base of having done it here in Saskatchewan,” Byers says.
In December 2015, Byers was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of her “contributions as an important voice in the Canadian labour movement.”
As a member of the Order of Canada, Byers has been the presiding officer at five citizenship ceremonies since returning to Regina.
“Even if you don’t know anybody — I keep saying to people, 'Find out when one is in your area and go see how the face of your community is changing and is being enriched,' "Byers says.
She was honoured to sit on the selection committee for the next RCMP commissioner.
“It was an incredible experience, — both in terms of the people we interviewed and the people I worked with on the committee,” Byers says.
Since settling back in Regina, Byers has enthusiastically supported community organizations.
She volunteers for Dress for Success, which outfits economically disadvantaged women with an interview suit and plans to get more involved with YWCA Regina.
Byers relates to Gloria Steinem’s philosophy that “women get more radical with age.”
“I say, 'Bring on another year,' "says the 66-year-old.
But age was one of the factors in her decision not to throw her hat into the provincial NDP leadership race, despite a number of people urging her to run.
“I’m very honoured that they would feel that confidence in me, there’s no doubt about it, and there’s a twinge of, 'Man, what could we do here?' But I also have a realization that it is time for the next generation to take this on and to create the change in the province that is needed.”
That said, she has some misgivings about the lack of diversity in the slate of contenders.
“This is not taking away from either of the candidates that are there, but I do wish that there was more diversity in the candidates that came forward — women, indigenous people, people of colour, GLBQ,” Byers says. “I still have energy, I can still contribute, I can do a lot of things, but I don’t need to be the leader.”