Jerry Dias will serve a third and final term as National President of Unifor.
Unifor has a retirement age of 65, meaning if Dias ran again in 2022 he would age out before the term expired so he has announced that he will not run again.
“I am energized to continue leading this great union," says Dias. "We still have a lot of work to do, the fight for social justice does not stop and we have a great leadership team to take us through the next three years."
Lana Payne was chosen as the first female Secretary-Treasurer. She replaces Bob Orr who is retiring after 35 years of labour activism.
“I am so grateful to our members and look forward to working hard with our amazing Unifor family to make gains for workers across Canada,” said Payne, who previously served as Unifor’s Atlantic Regional Director.
Two new Regional Directors were also elected Tuesday.
Replacing Payne as Atlantic Director is Linda MacNeil, previously Atlantic Area Director.
Renaud Gagné was elected at Québec Regional Council and was acclaimed by the membership as one of the top three officers of Unifor.
Gavin McGarrigle, B.C. Area Director, was chosen as the Western Regional Director, replacing Joie Warnock, who will become an Assistant to the National President and will lead Unifor’s efforts on Indigenous issues.
Naureen Rizvi, former Toronto Area Director and Director of Telecommunications, will continue as Ontario Regional Director.
The union's National Convention is taking place this week in Québec City.