Kamloops & District Labour Council Endorses Rob Ashton for the Federal NDP Leadership

Kamloops and District Labour Council (KDLC) voted at our January General Meeting to endorse Canada’s NDP leadership candidate Rob Ashton.

Rob Ashton is the current president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada. He is widely known for his long-standing advocacy for workers’ rights. He is now seeking the leadership of the Federal New Democratic Party (NDP).

Ashton has spent more than three decades working on the docks, building his career from the ground up within the ILWU. He began as a longshore worker and later took on leadership roles within the union, including serving as a business agent for ILWU Local 500. He went on to become vice-president of ILWU Canada before being elected president in 2016. Today, the union represents roughly 16,000 workers across British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Throughout his career, Ashton has been a vocal and consistent advocate for labour rights and working-class interests. He has emphasized solidarity as a core value of the labour movement and has regularly challenged corporate power and what he sees as government inaction on workers’ issues. His leadership reflects a belief that the NDP should remain firmly rooted as a political home for working people, and he has focused on uniting the party around those principles.

In October 2025, Ashton announced his candidacy for the leadership of the NDP, presenting himself as a working-class candidate focused on affordability, labour rights, and rebuilding domestic industries such as Canadian shipbuilding. He has called for putting workers back in charge of the economy and for higher taxes on the wealthy to support public investment. Ashton has also been openly critical of past party strategies, arguing that the NDP needs to reconnect with its labour base and advance policies that directly improve the lives of working families.

Ashton often describes himself as a lifelong worker rather than a career politician. He values plain speaking, honesty, and direct engagement, and sees fairness and equity as essential to a healthy society. Through coalition-building and grassroots organizing, he has worked to ensure workers’ concerns are heard and addressed. His leadership campaign reflects a broader effort within the NDP to return to its labour roots and better represent the interests of working Canadians.

Rob Ashton remains a prominent voice in Canadian labour politics as he continues to advocate for workers while campaigning for the leadership of the NDP.