Albert Cerilli has devoted his life to improving the lives of working people in Manitoba through his activism and commitment to human rights and social justice. A former regional vice-president of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Workers, his efforts to improve labour conditions began in 1950 when, as an employee of the Canadian National Railway, he worked to achieve a five-day, 40-hour work week and to ensure that placement, wages and bargaining rights were free of discrimination. After retiring from the Manitoba Federation of Labour, he served as president of the Manitoba Federation of Union Retirees and on the Executive Committee of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada. In 1994, he became the first labour scholar-in-residence in the labour studies program at the University of Manitoba and was also integral to the development of the high-school Workers of Tomorrow Program which increases student awareness of workplace health and safety issues.
