Betty Whittaker

Retired International Vice Pres. Betty Whittaker died in Lakefield, Ontario, on Feb. 7. She was 95.

A union member for 57 years, Whittaker served as a vice president of the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (IBB) and the Graphic Arts International Union (GAIU)–GCIU predecessor unions–for 17 years.

She served as a local officer of 28B–a predecessor of Toronto 500M–for some 25 years.

Retired Local 500M Exec. Vice Pres. Frank O'Reilly praised Whittaker's contributions at local and international levels. "Betty fought hard for the membership – in particular the female members. She never told you about what she had done, always what we, as a team, had done."

"Betty was a woman ahead of her time," O'Reilly said. "She worked in an environment that was filled by men, in an era when there was no recognition of women's rights. She never complained about this but rather worked to change it for the benefit of those women who might follow her."

Whittaker began her career in 1922 at age 14. She joined the IBB in 1946 as a journeyman bookbinder and continued in the trade until 1957. During the last two decades of that period, she worked at Photo Engravers & Electrotypers Ltd.

In 1950, Whittaker was elected vice president of Local 28B. She served as local president from 1960 to 1967, then returned to the vice president's post.

Whittaker began working as the local's office secretary in 1958 and continued in that job until her retirement in February 1979.

As a local officer, Whittaker served as a member of all of Local 28B's committees; a trustee of the local's pension and welfare plans; vice president of the Ontario Federation of Printing Trades Unions; secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Bookbinders Council; vice president of the Eastern Canada Federation of Printing Trades Unions; and secretary-treasurer of the Bookbinders Council of Eastern Canada.

She also served on the Allied Printing Trades Council, the Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto, and as a delegate to Canadian Labour Congress conventions.

As an IBB vice president, Whittaker served on the joint constitution committee for the IBB and the Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union (LPIU) that led to merger of the two unions in 1972 to form GAIU.

Following retirement, Whittaker became involved with the formation of what is now Local 500M's Retiree Club and was elected to serve as the club's first vice president.

Predeceased by her husband Harry, Whittaker is survived by daughters Eleanor Martin, Colleen Wallenius, and Marie Hampton; four grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren.