Resources for journalists and media outlets covering Gavin McGarrigle and Unifor’s Western Region.
Gavin McGarrigle
Western Regional Director, Unifor
Gavin McGarrigle was first elected as Unifor’s Western Regional Director in 2019 and was re-elected in 2022 and 2025, making him the longest-serving Regional Director in the union’s history. Based in Metro Vancouver, his region includes 64,000 members across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Gavin began organizing his own workplace into a union more than 25 years ago while attending university in Victoria, and has since led members through decades of collective bargaining, organizing campaigns, and major labour disputes — including the 2014 Vancouver container trucking dispute and the 2024 Amazon union drive in Delta, B.C.
Quick Facts
- Western Regional Director, Unifor (elected 2019; re-elected 2022, 2025)
- Represents 64,000 members across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba
- Helped restore single-step card-check certification in B.C. and Manitoba
- Helped lead the organizing campaign that resulted in Unifor’s first certification of a large Amazon facility in Canada, awarded in Delta, B.C. in July 2025
- Serves on the federal Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council
- Based in Metro Vancouver
Media Contact
For interview requests or comment on deadline, email media@gavinmcgarrigle.ca. General inquiries can also go through gavinmcgarrigle.ca/updates, or through Gavin’s official Unifor profile.
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Media Coverage
See gavinmcgarrigle.ca/newsroom for the full, continuously updated archive of press coverage and video, filterable by subject and year.
Approved bios (copy & paste)
Short (75 words)
Gavin McGarrigle is the elected Western Regional Director of Unifor and a member of the union’s national leadership team, representing 64,000 members across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. With more than two decades in Canada’s labour movement, he has led major rounds of collective bargaining, landmark disputes, and campaigns to strengthen labour law. He is a federal Governor in Council appointee to the Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council. Based in Metro Vancouver.
Medium (150 words)
Gavin McGarrigle is the elected Western Regional Director of Unifor, serving his third term on the union’s national leadership team. Based in Metro Vancouver, his region includes 64,000 members across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba — in transportation, hospitality, energy, manufacturing, and mining. He began his career organizing his own workplace while a student at the University of Victoria, where he graduated with distinction in Sociology and Professional Writing. Over more than two decades he has led numerous rounds of collective bargaining, arbitration, and labour-board proceedings, played a central role in the 2014 Vancouver container-trucking dispute and the resulting “safe rates” reforms, helped restore single-step card-check certification in B.C. and Manitoba, and supported the 2024 Amazon organizing drive in British Columbia. Gavin is a federal Governor in Council appointee representing trade unions on the Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council.
Media topics
Labour relations and collective bargaining · Organizing and the Amazon drive · Forestry and industrial policy · Transportation and transit · Container trucking and “safe rates” · Energy and sustainable jobs · Trade · the Western Canadian economy · the future of work.
Media contact
For interviews and media requests: media@gavinmcgarrigle.ca. Gavin is based in Metro Vancouver (Pacific Time) and is regularly available for comment on labour, jobs, and public-policy issues across Canada.
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