Richard Joseph Cashin, (born January 5, 1937 in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

, former Canadian politician and

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

leader. The grandson of Sir Michael Cashin, KBE and nephew of

Peter Cashin Major Peter John Cashin (March 8, 1890 – May 21, 1977) was a businessman, soldier and politician in Newfoundland. Early life Cashin, a son of Sir Michael Cashin, joined the Newfoundland Regiment during World War I and ultimately served in the B ...

, Richard Cashin is a member of a prominent

political family. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 general election as the Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

St. John's West St. John's West was a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 to 2004. This riding was created in 1949 when Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederati ...

. He remained an MP throughout the

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

era, being re-elected in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

and 1965 elections. He was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Fisheries in 1966. After several years as an MP, during Progressive Conservative and Liberal minority governments, Cashin suffered a major upset when he was one of the few incumbent Liberal MPs to lose his seat in the 1968 general election that returned a Liberal

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

led by

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

. After his political defeat, Cashin returned to his law practice. He won a major settlement for fishermen in

Placentia Bay Placentia Bay (french: Baie de Plaisance) is a body of water on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It is formed by Burin Peninsula on the west and Avalon Peninsula on the east. Fishing grounds in the bay were used by native people long ...

in a lawsuit against the Electric Reduction Company whose toxic waste damaged the local

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

industry. In 1970, Cashin joined with Father

Desmond McGrath The Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) Union is a trade union in Newfoundland and Labrador that represents 15,000 workers. Most of the members are in the fishing industry but the FFAW also has organized workers in the hotel, hospitality, brewin ...

in a successful effort to organize fishers into a new

, which became the

Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union The Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) Union is a trade union in Newfoundland and Labrador that represents 15,000 workers. Most of the members are in the fishing industry but the FFAW also has organized workers in the hotel, hospitality, brewin ...

. Cashin and McGrath crossed the province organizing the union, and at the union's founding convention held in 1971, Cashin was elected its first president. The union was successful in pressuring fishing companies in

Burgeo Burgeo ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located mainly on Grandy Island, on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland. It is an outport community. The town is approximately east of Channel-Port aux ...

to negotiate a contract in 1972, and led trawlermen in successful

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

in 1975. Through these actions, the union grew and established itself as the largest union in the province. Cashin moved to the left in the 1970s and supported candidates of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. Despite being appointed to the board of directors of government-owned oil company

Petro-Canada Petro-Canada is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, with Suncor shareholders rec ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, he led the union to endorse the NDP in the 1980s, and became a vice-president of the party. In 1987, his influence resulted in the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union disaffiliating from the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

and joining the

Canadian Auto Workers The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW; formally the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada) was one of Canada's largest and highest profile labour unions. In 2013, it merged with the Communications, Energy and ...

. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

. Cashin was sworn into the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

in 1992 allowing him to use the style

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style (ma ...

References

External links

A brief history of the FFAW
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cashin, Richard 1937 births Living people Trade unionists from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian lawyers Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party politicians