The president of Canada’s largest private-sector union has retired.
Jerry Dias informed Unifor’s executive board of his “immediate retirement” on Mar. 11, “stating that he continues to deal with ongoing health issues,” said Lana Payne, the union’s national secretary-treasurer in an email to members on Sunday.
Dias has been on leave from his position since Feb. 6 following a tweet that said his account will be a little quiet for a while he deals with ongoing medical issues.
He was first elected national president in August 2013 at the union’s founding convention and re-elected in 2016 and 2019. Unifor was created as a merger of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers
“We are all wishing him well and thanking him for his numerous and impactful contributions to working people over many years, from his days representing aerospace workers on the shop floor to the National President of Canada’s largest private sector union,” Payne said.
Unifor’s executive board will meet on Mar. 21 to decide next steps.
During his time as president Dias negotiated a deal with GM to return production to the Oshawa plant after the company announced it would cease all operations.
In 2021 Ontario Premier Doug Ford tapped Dias to help Ontario fight American policies that threatened Ontario’s auto industry and lead the province’s push to try to thwart US President Joe Biden’s protectionist moves that favor American-built electric vehicles.
The veteran unionist also advised the federal Liberal government during negotiations on the 2019 USMCA free trade deal with the US and Mexico.
Dias said he has all the confidence in leadership, staff and locals to continue to build Unifor into a bold and progressive force.
“After eight and a half years I can proudly say we have built an incredible organization and made Unifor the influential and successful union it is today,” Dias says in the statement.
uniform represents 315,000 workers in 29 different sectors across Canada, including employees of the Toronto Star.
With files from Canadian Press
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