The entire AFL-CIO family mourns the loss of our brother and friend, former international president of the United Steelworkers (USW), Leo W. Gerard, who passed away on Sept. 21, 2025.
Throughout his incredible career, including 18 years as USW president, Gerard was an unapologetic champion for working people who put his heart and soul into the fight for social and economic justice.
Born into a union family, Gerard’s career began at the age of 18 at a nickel smelter in his hometown of Sudbury, Ontario. He quickly became active in the union on organizing campaigns and as a shop steward.
Gerard joined the USW staff in 1977 and served as staff representative, district director, national director of Canada, and secretary-treasurer before his election as international president in 2001, an office he held until his retirement in 2019.
Gerard sought to grow the union through organizing new workers and orchestrating mergers with other labor organizations, and under his leadership USW grew to be the largest industrial union in North America.
He also focused on building strategic alliances with allies across North America and around the world, which helped raise living standards and enshrined workers’ rights worldwide.
Under his leadership, the USW worked with unions from around the world to create the IndustriALL Global Union. Gerard also helped create the Alliance for American Manufacturing, and was instrumental in the formation of the BlueGreen Alliance, a powerful labor-environmental partnership, in 2006.
Spanning more than five decades, Leo Gerard’s career improved the lives of countless workers around the world. On behalf of the nearly 15 million working people of the AFL-CIO, we send our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. Our labor movement is better off because of his efforts, and though he will be missed, he will not be forgotten.