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Lana Payne vowed to continue fighting for workers everywhere in Canada after she won the election for the National President seat by a landslide today at Unifor’s Constitutional Convention in Vancouver.
“I’ve said already that it’s been an honour and a great privilege to be your national president. My honour today has grown three-fold,” Payne said in her acceptance speech.
“We have workers to defend, jobs to protect and a country and economy to get on track. And this country needs us. Canada needs this union. It needs the progressive force that we are.”
Delegates also returned Payne’s leadership team with National Secretary-Treasurer Len Poirier, Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle, Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi, and Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray set to resume their duties. Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier was acclaimed for a second term at Unifor’s Quebec Regional Council earlier this year.
Payne was elected in 2022 at Unifor’s previous Constitutional Convention in Toronto as the first woman to be elected as the union’s National President.
“We are a union. That means it takes all of us. We inspire each other. We stand up for each other. We show up for each other,” said Payne.
“When I say there is no labour peace if you attack our rights, I mean there will be no labour peace. And when I say we must protect Canadian jobs with everything we have, I mean exactly that…When we fight, we win. Always.”
Unifor striking workers were an unstoppable tour de force on day 3, as they marched onto the convention floor, appropriately, to the tune of Trooper’s “Raise a little hell” and a thunderous standing ovation from leadership and delegates.
“I am truly in awe of the strength, resilience, and unity shown by our members,” Payne told the striking members. “Your courage on the front lines inspires us all to keep fighting together.”
Unifor gave space to members involved in four ongoing strikes and lockout – Titan Tool and Die in Windsor, Ont., Multibar in Montreal, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford and Transdev transit workers in Cowichan Valley, B.C. – to share their stories of never backing down from their employers and solidarity on the picket lines.
Delegates also heard from Local 112 member Derek Galt about the Toromont Industries strike, which lasted for seven weeks before it was resolved earlier this week.
The agreement came shortly after members rejected the company’s final offer in a forced vote orchestrated by the Ontario Labour Board.
Unifor awarded Tanya Talaga, Indigenous journalist, author, and Unifor member, the 2025 Neil Reimer Award for her impactful stories of Indigenous experiences in Canada.
Talaga announced she was going to donate the proceeds of the Neil Reimer Award to her Spirit to Soar charity, which helps First Nations children in Thunder Bay, Ont. and helps fund a local art collective, run by First Nations youth, to make drums, paint, language exercises and connect them to elders.
Unifor’s Organizing department highlighted their historic wins since the last convention three years ago, particularly in retail and logistics.
Walmart fleet drivers and warehouse workers in B.C., Alberta and Ontario joined the union’s ranks and Amazon workers in B.C. won certification despite the company’s relentless attacks on their right to organize.
“Our organizers have fought for units with as few as two workers and others with more than 800, but always with the same commitment and intensity,” said Unifor Organizing Director Justin Gniposky.
“Amazon has been one of our most challenging and inspiring campaigns. These drives have taken incredible dedication from staff, local unions, and, most importantly, the workers themselves. Their courage is what drives our movement. Together, we’re now poised to make history as the first in North America to bargain a collective agreement with this anti-union giant.”
Unifor Assistant to the Quebec Director Renaud Plante said 55 new groups that have been added to the big family of Unifor, including the new Kruger factory in Sherbrooke. And 15 of those new groups are in the region of Gaspésie.
“Gaspésie represents hardly more than 1% of the population of Quebec, but has been the spot of more than 27% of our victorious campaigns of the last three years,” said Plante.
Transport Workers’ Union National Secretary Michael Kaine – who worked to organize and lift standards in the road transport industry in Australia and enable gig workers to join the TWU– admired Unifor’s work, boosted the global Safe Rates campaign, blasted greedy corporations and encouraged solidarity building among members.
“It’s dedication to identifying who has the power, the economic power, in industries we represent and targeting them out and figuring out how to transfer it to workers through unions,” he said.
“This solidarity must cross borders because of the injustices of greedy corporations who deny working people decent standards.”
