Unifor Constitutional Convention-August 24-29, 2025
Thank you for the membership for the privilege of allowing me to attend the convention.
On Sunday August 24th we attended health care council. We heard reports from the executive. The PSW registry was discussed and there will be more discussion on it at the Healthcare Conference in October. The leadership has the legal department reviewing the language in the Long-Term Care Act. We heard from Jim Stanford, former Senior Economist and Director of Policy for Unifor on the economic trends and bargaining in health care.
On Monday August 25th, the convention opened. The theme of the convention was Protect Canadian Jobs. Lana Payne gave her address to the delegates that covered every sector in the Union. She talked about how more than 100 strikes over the last 3 years have been carried out and that Unifor continues to fight for members’ rights. She talked about how the Union, and its members will have to pushback to protect Canadian jobs because of Trumps tariffs. The sisters attended the Womens Caucus at lunch where we heard the great work that Women’s committees are doing coast to coast. We also learned that Peggy Nash and Julie White have written a book called Women United- Stories of Women’s Struggles for Equality in the Canadian Auto Workers Union. It is available for pre order.
Len Poirier gave the delegates his financial report to the delegates. The Union has donated $400 thousand to women’s shelters and $820 thousand to food banks across Canada. We heard from guest speaker Stephen Cotton, who is the general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation who spoke about the work Unifor leadership have accomplished by supporting the Safe Rates Campaign for truck drivers and couriers, improving working conditions and fighting against privatization.
On Tuesday, we heard reports from the Quebec, Western, Atlantic and Ontario Directors. Nominations of the Executive Officers and Regional Directors took place. There were 3 nominations for Ontario Director and 2 nominations for President. All the other positions were acclaimed. There was a tribute to Buzz Hargrove, former CAW President who passed away in August.
On Wednesday, there was a recognition of striking workers and the Organizing Report. At 2pm there was an election. Lana Payne won her election against Rodney McGill by 89.97 percent to 10.03 percent. Samia Hashi won her election, getting 65.95 percent of the vote over Donovan Nezbeth- 18.17 percent and Maryellen McIlmoyle- 15.88 percent. Michael Caine, National Secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia, spoke about the global fight transport and logistics workers are leading. He talked about the fight and struggles of Australian workers are the same as Canadian workers and when unions globally fight together everyone is stronger.
On Thursday, there was a Protect Canadian Jobs rally prior to lunch and then a Protect Canadian Jobs Panel after lunch. The panel included CUPE, FTQ and Hassan Yussuff, former Unifor staff member and CLC President. Unifor members at the Diageo Plant in Amherstburg found out that the Crown Royal facility will close in February 2026 and that 170 members will lose their job. The union was not spoken to about this and instead heard it publicly. Unifor is prepared to fight for these jobs that are long standing in that community.
On Friday, the Public Review Board report was mentioned, and the Report of the Ethics Commissioner was given before adjournment.
Throughout the convention, there were 101 Constitutional Amendments put forward and 19 Resolutions that were all dealt with! Delegates voted on each amendment using voting machines. There were several debates, and the one notable one was the ability for delegates to vote for their own Regional Director. The committee recommended non-concurrence, which means they did not agree with the proposed amendment. On August 27th, the vote was yes-41.54 percent and no 58.46 percent. There was not 50 percent plus one to agree with non-concurrence, so it was sent back to the committee. On August 28th, the amendment was brought forward again and this time the delegates voted for non-concurrence by a vote of 53.97 percent to 46.03 percent.
All the proposed amendments and resolutions can be found on Unifor.org.
Respectfully submitted,
Michelle Flewin
