Briarpatch mourns the passing of board member and longtime social justice activist Pat Gallagher

It is with great sadness and a keen sense of loss that Briarpatch marks the passing of board member and long-time supporter Patsy Gallagher.

Activist served as role model

Will Chabun
The Leader-Post (Regina)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Patsy Gallagher’s voice still rings in the ears of her old pal, Barb Byers: “Barbara! We’ve got to do this!”

And what Gallagher was usually doing was working for a better deal for the workers and women of Canada in general, and Saskatchewan in particular.

Sadly, the veteran labour and social activist died Monday.

“I’m so saddened by it,” said Byers, the Canadian Labour Congress’ executive vice-president. “Here’s a woman who worked all her life for the working class and yet she didn’t get to enjoy much of her retirement life.”

Born in Vanguard in 1939, Patricia Gallagher was the daughter of a meatpacking union member in Moose Jaw. Trained as a teacher, she taught in northern Manitoba and Regina, then worked at the University of Regina, including the student union, in the 1970s. She joined the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour as executive assistant in 1976.

“Working class politics, trade union politics, they just burned in every one of Patsy’s blood vessels,” said Byers in a telephone interview from Prince George, B.C. “She was a fierce, funny feminist, trade unionist and socialist. She really believed that if we were much more active and ‘took up the cause’ for people, then we could make a difference in the world. The world just isn’t going to be the same.”

In 1982, Gallagher moved to what was then known as the Saskatchewan Government Employees Union (now the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union) — initially as its education officer, then as a staff representative, director of membership services and, finally, its executive director of operations. She retired in 2001.

“She had a driving sense to make the world more just and a better place,” said Beverly Crossman, a longtime friend and the SGEU’s current executive director of operations. “That’s absolutely what drove her in all the activities she was active in. She did a fair bit of work after she retired — and always it was to make the world a better place for ordinary people, for working people, for people who are poor.”

A tribute prepared by the SGEU described her as “an active supporter of many social causes, a founding member of Saskatchewan Working Women, a published author and an activist who believed in living her values. She helped transform the labour movement by drawing attention to the need for ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ and child care for working women.

“She was a role model for all working women and young women, in particular.”

A memorial service for Gallagher is to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Regina Funeral Home.