Fundo C 97 - Jim Tester collection

James Bremner Ronaldson (Jim) Tester (1913-1994) son of James and Elizabeth Tester, was born in Victoria, British Columbia. In 1937, he married Doris Teeple in Timmins and they had 2 children: John and Erla. Known as a union leader and a humanitarian, Tester was also a columnist at the Northern Life for 20 years until he retired in 1993 due to illness.

Tester graduated from Riverdale Technical School as a mechanical drafting specialist in 1929. From 1930-1935, he worked for Lake Shore Mines (Kirkland Lake, Ontario) as a junior draftsman, and as a machine apprentice. By 1932, his interest in unions began, but he was blacklisted by the mining companies for union activity, and later discharged. Until 1940, Tester worked for the Consumers Cooperative Movement in the Kirkland Lake and Timmins areas, where he eventually became the Educational Director of the Workers’ Cooperative. During WWII, he worked as a machinist in Southern Ontario, and by 1941, he helped to organize a union for skilled workers at General Motors in Oshawa. He was elected as the Chief Union Steward, and was a co-founder of the Skilled Trades Council of the Canadian Autoworkers Union. In 1951, Tester was hired by Falconbridge Nickel Mines in the Sudbury area as a millwright and machine mechanic. He was a member of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers (IUMMSW), Local 598, from 1951 until his retirement in 1976. Tester was involved with the IUMMSW on many levels. He participated in contract negotiations in 1955, 1956 and 1959. From 1969 to 1974, he was President of Local 598 (then representing the Falconbridge workers) and led the union negotiating teams. During these years, Tester was also active on the international labour scene, specifically with trips to Cuba, Scotland and Norway. During his retirement, he was the Secretary/Treasurer of the Falconbridge Pensioners Association.

Tester also served the larger Sudbury community. From 1974-1989 he wrote a weekly labour column in the Northern Life newspaper titled “On the Anvil.” From 1974-1975, he was a member of the Board of Governors at Laurentian University. In 1982, he was an instructor at Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology. He was also an active member of the Sudbury and District Committee on Pollution, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Pensioners for Sudbury Regional Tax Reform, and one of the founding members of the Coalition for Responsible Local Government.

Jim Tester died December 29, 1994 after a long battle with cancer.