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Norma Berti, the first Steelworker woman in Canada to serve on her local union executive (as financial secretary), died in Hamilton on 9 October  2001 after a battle with cancer.

Norma was a member of SOAR, having retired in 1984 after 34 years as a member of Local 1005 at Stelco's Hilton Works. An activist all her life, Norma had been a member of the Hamilton and District Council of Women for many years, serving as Treasurer. She was also the house convenor for the Provincial Council of Women and in 1976 was the first recipient of the Woman of the Year award from the Status of Women of Hamilton. She was a member of Women's Art Institute, the Older Women's Network, the New Democratic Party, the Raging Grannies, and more.

"The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn," she once said about her role on the executive.

Norma Berti is survived by her husband Leo (also a Local 1005 retiree), a son and daughter and four grandchildren.