With a letter to the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour on Friday, President Rick Clarke announced that he will be retiring at the end of October, timed with the biannual NSFL Convention. Brother Clarke has served the NSFL as president since 1988 and before that had been a union rep at the shipyard since 1974. “I have wrestled with this decision for some time, and it has not come with a feeling of relief or jubilation, for I truly love what I have been blessed to have been able to do these many years — work for and with workers — but it is time,” he said. Clarke acknowledged the challenges the labour movement has faced in recent years “from both the McNeil and Harper governments...Despite the best efforts of both governments, with their anti-worker/anti-union acts and actions, we the labour movement have pulled together, grown and strengthened,” he wrote in his letter. Even after he officially steps down, he plans to stay busy, working with community organizations and the Nova Scotia Federation of Union Retirees. Clarke’s letter also said he will spend time after his retirement working to improve his health.