JOHN L. FRYER, C.M., M.A.,B.Sc.(ECON), FRSA.
John Fryer is a recognized expert on labour management relations and defender of the rights of public sector workers. Growing up in wartime London he graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with a B.Sc (ECON) followed by a Master’s degree in Labour Economics from the University of Pittsburgh.
John has had an eclectic career as special correspondent for the The Economist’s American Survey and as an official of the United Packinghouse Food and Allied Workers Union in Chicago supporting the civil rights work of Martin Luther King. As Research Director of the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa and as the General Secretary of the B.C.Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU) where John led the successful fight for full bargaining rights for public sector workers. As National President of Canada's second biggest union he went to South Africa in 1994 to advise the new government of Nelson Mandela on modern labour laws. As a senior public servant in the British Columbia government and as a popular Professor of Public Administration at the University of Victoria John's advice was sought by the World Bank and by trade unions around the globe. He has written and spoken extensively on labour relations and public policy issues.
He was lead author of the British Columbia Public Inquiry Commission report titled "Making Collective Bargaining Work in B.C.'s Public Service" which served as the model for the province’s Public Service Labour Relations Act. From 1999 to 2001 John was seconded to the Canadian Government to chair a Task Force charged with recommending changes to the government’s labour relations regime to make it fit for purpose in the 21st century.The committee’s report titled "Working Together in the Public Interest" contained 33 unanimous recommendations for change.
John's decades of public service have been recognized on several occasions. In 1995 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for “his contributions to economic and social justice and skills in collective bargaining". He is also one of few Canadians to have been awarded all three Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilee medals for their public service.
Early in 2014 John’s expert testimony led directly to Alberta’s Court of Queen’s Bench issuing an injunction forbidding the Alberta government from implementing its recently passed Public Service Salary Restraint Act.
Following this unprecedented court victory John decided it was time to retire. He returned to his roots in southwest London and now lives there with his wife Penelope. He swims regularly, sings in the Magna Carta Barbershop Chorus and enjoys membership in a geopolitics discussion group.