Former Unifor president Jerry Dias, who confirmed this past Sunday he would retire from his role with the Canadian labor union, is currently under investigation for an alleged breach of the organization’s constitution.
GM Canada and Unifor reach agreement over Oshawa Assembly (Jerry Dias right)
In a statement issued Monday, Unifor said it had recently received a written complaint that Dias “engaged in an alleged breach of the Unifor Constitution.” Dias was informed of the investigation on January 29th, 2022, and took medical leave shortly after on February 6th, 2022. Dias retired from the union with immediate effect on March 11th.
The statement did not provide details on Dias’ alleged breach of the union’s constitution.
“In order to ensure the integrity of the ongoing investigation and to maintain confidentiality in accordance with the Unifor Constitution, specifics of the complaint will not be divulged at this time,” the union said.
“Every Unifor member is held to the same standard and afforded the same rights under our Constitution.”
Unifor and its National Executive Board will meet on March 21st, 2022 to discuss the investigation. The union said it “will have no further public comment prior to receipt of the investigative report,” which is expected to be released in the near future.
Jerry Dias served as Unifor’s president from 2013 until his retirement this month. He helped lead negotiations with General Motors after it shuttered its GM Oshawa Assembly plant, saving 300 jobs at the facility as GM added a small parts production operation there. Oshawa Assembly is now reopened, producing the Chevy Silverado HD and Silverado 1500.
Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer Lana Payne, who is the highest-ranking Unifor officer at the moment, will fill in for Dias before a new leader is elected later this year.
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Comments
Unions need to go away, especially public unions. They were needed back in the 20’s and 30’s but now they are just corrupt ATM’s for the Democrat Party.
Another Wally Greeter Trumper Idiot without marketable skills and couldn’t get a union job !
There is a shocker. Union leader Retires and get investigated.
Union leaders and Management do the same thing for different people and they go about it the same way. If a Union leader has dirt on them so does Management. I’ve seen it firsthand and know for a fact. People are the same everywhere and are motivated by the same things. Consider thinking about Management the same way as Unions. Hold both to the same standard and compare the actions of both. Don’t use political filters (left/right) don’t use personal bias (I hate unions/Mgmt are crooks) just objectively compare everyone and every group to a basic, decent human standard and make a judgment for yourself. If Mr. Dias did something wrong and is found to have violated UNIFOR’s laws he should be held to account.
Agree. Unions are needed simply because executives also are looking out for themselves. For instance the GM $10 billion stock buy back. Executives are primarily compensated with stock options, so this is nothing more than insider trading.