The race for the nationwide presidency of Unifor has begun in earnest as long-time union chief Jerry Dias nears retirement and the labour group prepares for management elections this summer season.
Dias has headed Canada’s largest private-sector union because it was shaped in 2013 and has repeatedly stated his third time period as president can be his final, which means union delegates will elect a brand new chief at Unifor’s constitutional conference this August. Dias was elected to his third three-year time period in August, 2019.
Two candidates have already declared their intention to run. Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Native 444, which represents staff at Stellantis’ Windsor, Ont. Meeting Plant, and Scott Doherty, govt assistant to Unifor’s nationwide president, will contend for the union’s prime job.
Cassidy and Doherty introduced their candidacy this month as Dias stepped away from his submit to take care of undisclosed well being points. Unifor has supplied no timeline for Dias’s return; he had been anticipated to serve out his time period that may finish with the election of a brand new president on the conference slated to run Aug. 8 to 12 in Toronto.
Dias can be a troublesome chief to exchange, stated Arthur Wheaton, director of labour research at Cornell College’s Faculty of Industrial and Labor Relations.
“There’s plenty of challenges forward for whoever takes over the reins from [Dias], however there’s additionally plenty of alternatives,” Wheaton stated, crediting Dias for with the ability to run a posh and more and more numerous union.
Unifor was shaped in 2013 from the merger of the Canadian Auto Employees union and the Communications, Power and Paperworkers Union of Canada. It represents hourly staff at Detroit Three crops in Ontario, in addition to 1000’s at auto elements amenities. The automotive trade nonetheless employs the most important single portion of its membership at roughly 13 per cent, however the the rest of the union’s 315,000 members work in different sectors.
Dias’s nine-year tenure makes him Unifor’s first and solely president, and Wheaton likened changing him to discovering a stand-in for Apple’s Steve Jobs.
“Nobody ever thought they might change the pinnacle of Apple … You’ll be able to by no means change Steve Jobs — however I nonetheless speak on an iPhone and so they nonetheless have the enterprise going and it strikes ahead, and I feel the identical can be stated [of Unifor].”
Wheaton expects the brand new chief will be capable of depend on the “good infrastructure” already in place, including that union management adjustments usually carry a brand new set of concepts and agendas.
Because the race to exchange Dias will get underway, Doherty has the backing of the union’s present management. He’s endorsed by its 25-member nationwide govt board, which is made up of regional administrators and chairpersons, in addition to regional council leaders.
Cassidy has secured native and a few auto sector assist, saying the Native 444 govt board, in addition to Unifor’s Stellantis council have endorsed his run.
Different entrants will be capable of enter the race practically till votes are forged, together with any candidates nominated on the conference flooring this summer season. Not like in direct voting methods, during which one member is given one vote, delegates at Unifor’s conference forged their votes on behalf of members.
Together with the nationwide presidency, the union’s three regional directorships and the function of secretary treasurer can be put to votes.