Leo Gerard says this will be his last term as international president of USW

It's no surprise Leo Gerard has ended up the leader of an international union.

At a young age, he spent plenty of time with his father, who was involved in a union in his hometown of Sudbury.

"I remember that the two other union guys plus my dad were saying that I've got to be a union lawyer because I never shut up," he recalled.

"They had my map that I was going to go to school, graduate, become a lawyer and become a union lawyer because I had a big mouth. I talked a lot and I still talk a lot."

Today, Gerard is the international president of the United Steelworkers Union. He says this will be his last term in the position.

His road to get to his current post has taken him to several cities in Ontario and now the United States.

Education or employment

Gerard began his career working at Inco in Sudbury, but later decided he wanted to become an economics teacher.

"I spent a few years trying to get myself demoted, trying to bid on jobs that would take me down the ladder," he said.

"The reason was so that I could work steady days."

He registered as a mature student at Laurentian but stayed involved with the union, which eventually offered him a job. Gerard then had to make to choice of whether to stay in school or accept the job offer.

"I decided to go work for the union," he said.

Moving on up

That job was in southern Ontario, specifically, Toronto. He moved there in 1977. A few years later, he moved to Hamilton, then to Elliot Lake and then back to Toronto.

"I got to do a lot of negotiations," he said.

"The thing that I learned is that it didn't matter whether I was in a small plant in Mississauga or a large plant in Hamilton, or a mining environment in Elliot Lake, many of the problems were similar if not the same."

From there, he moved into a different position as district and national director.

"A lot of my work became political liaison, fighting for labour laws both provincially and federally."

Gerard made his way to Pittsburg to work in the International Steelworkers Office, eventually becoming president.

That job involves many meetings with high level politicians, including several with current president Donald Trump.

"[Trump] can be very charming [and] he believes whatever he says, whether it's true or not, he believes it," Gerard said.

"He says the right things but they don't come to pass."

Getting 'the hell out'

Throughout his career with the union, Gerard says he's proud of what's been accomplished.

"I'm really proud that both in the United States and Canada through our union we've built some important alliances," he said.

"We've got really constructive relationships with each of the major sectors. Part of that constructive relationship is that we've got to fight about certain things. We should fight for those that will help the industry together, but at the same time, I want these companies to be profitable."

Gerard says he will be stepping down as international president of the United Steelworkers Union at the end of his term.

"When the job is your … vocation, that's when you know you're doing the right thing," he said.

"When you don't feel that, get the hell out."

As for what's next, he says he plans to leave the United States and return to his hometown of Sudbury.

"I've got my camp I bought in 1981. I've got my boat. I've got my quad. I'm going to have a good time," he said.