VANCOUVER—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.

“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.”

Payne’s leadership team also returned to office by delegates 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 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.”

Unifor National President Lana Payne has a strong message for the Canadian government when it comes to giving into U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war demands — you’ll have to go through Unifor first.

Payne didn’t mince words in her speech on Aug. 25 —the first day of the union’s fifth Constitutional Convention at the Vancouver Convention Centre — and emphasized that pushback from the union and its members is the path forward to protecting Canadian jobs.

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You don’t win by conceding. By giving up your leverage. For nothing,” she fiercely said.

“This is the second time, now, we have given up key negotiating leverage for nothing more than the president’s attention. In the meantime, U.S. tariffs are going up, not down. Attacks on our industries are worsening, not getting any better.”

Unifor is calling for a true multi-sector, job-creating, made-in-Canada industrial strategy to wean Canada away from dependency on the U.S. Payne also warned corporate Canada who believe the solution to the Trump chaos is weakened workers’ rights, more tax cuts, fewer union jobs, more automation, to expect ‘Elbows up.’

“In this trade war, there is us and there is them. It’s no more complicated than that,” said Payne.

“To those who think they can shift our jobs and our plants to the United States. To those who think they can govern this country and allow that to happen. You will have to go through us first.”

Payne said the union will continue to boost its Protect Canadian Jobs campaign and keep a national conversation going into workplaces and communities across the country, demand industrial strategy in every industry, and keep the temperature hot in rallies and political action to defend Canada’s economy and protect Canadian workers.

During her speech, Payne shared individual stories of worker power in different sectors to illustrate that Unifor is not solidified by just one person, but collectively, with all 320,000 members.

“This union is Michael, who has worked for 49 years at the CN Tower 360 restaurant, since the day it opened, and who stood proudly with coworkers at local 4271 when they were locked out this summer fighting for justice for hospitality workers everywhere,” she said as an example.

“This is our union. It’s all of us. It takes all of us to meet the moment in front of us. It takes all of us to fight and yes, to win.”

Payne spoke about the victories over the past three years – since the last Constitutional Convention in Toronto in 2022 – including organizing wins at Wal-Mart and Amazon warehouse members, achieving anti-scab legislation, and being the first historical test case for this new legislation when DHL tried to use it in a Canada-wide strike during the summer.

“You interfere in this labour dispute for the employer at your peril,” she said. “That’s the power of this union…The company had to bargain with us.”

Payne left the crowd with an inspiring message of solidarity.

“Our opponents will always have deep pockets. They will always have powerful friends they can call on. But they will never have what we have,” she said.

“We have each other. We have our Unifor shield. And there is a reason we chose the shield as our symbol. Because we protect each other.”

The convention opened with an Indigenous welcome from performer James Jones, also known as Notorious Cree — setting the tone for a week of respect, strength and unity with a traditional hoop dance.

“We all come from the same tribe,” he said. “Every single person in this room is from the two-legged tribe. We need to support each other and to show each other the most important teaching in my culture, zaagi’idiwin, which is love.”

In his financial report, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer Len Poirier said the union has invested $4.8 million to support 110 Canadian and international social justice projects through the union’s Social Justice Fund and $1.2 million in donations to over 260 Canadian and international organizations.

The union also donated $400,000 to women’s shelters and $820,000 to food banks across Canada during Unifor’s holiday donation drives.

“As Unifor continues our work here at home, we need to be proud of the work we do Internationally as well with our global affiliates,” he said.

Delegates stood for a moment of silence in memory of Scott Bateman, Unifor’s Road Transportation Director, who passed away earlier this year.

“Scott believed that all transit workers deserve fair pay and safe working conditions, and he championed the rights of truck, transit, school bus and taxi operators, couriers, mechanics, cleaners, and maintenance workers across Canada and internationally,” said Payne in a heartfelt tribute.

“For Scott, this was never just a job — it was his life’s work. His steadfast activism, kindness, and leadership left a legacy that will continue to inspire us all.”

Guest speaker Stephen Cotton, the General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), reinforced the close relationship with Unifor it continues to foster by supporting each other’s campaigns and victories.

Cotton championed the work Unifor leadership and directors have so far accomplished, including raising awareness of intimate partner violence, supporting the Safe Rates campaign for truck drivers and couriers, improving working conditions and fighting against automation and privatization, as they sit on ITF committees.

“We’re proud of what Canada brings to the movement, we’re immensely proud about Unifor and the long history,” he said.

“Multinational companies: we need more of them to expect your power and it’s our job to harness that.”

“Donald Trump’s attacks on Canada’s auto, steel, aluminum and forestry sectors are hitting workers in real time,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “Walking back counter-tariffs is not an olive branch—it’s an open invitation for more U.S. aggression. It sends the wrong signal at the worst possible moment.”

From the outset of this trade war, Unifor has been clear: Canada’s leverage must be used to defend Canadian jobs—not bargained away without reciprocity.

The union has consistently called for a strong retaliatory response to the U.S.’s punitive tariffs and supports Premier Ford’s stance, echoed by the majority of Canadians, that the only answer to Trump’s aggression is to push back hard.

“Canada should not give up counter-tariffs unless the U.S. drops all of its unfair tariffs,” said Payne. “Backing down with concessions is a betrayal of the workers who are and will be paying the price.”

Unifor represents thousands of workers directly impacted by U.S. trade aggression, from auto plants and steel mills to aluminum smelters and forestry operations. The union warns that removing counter-tariffs risks emboldening further U.S. attacks on Canadian industries and jobs.

“Trade leverage is not just a bargaining chip, it’s also a shield,” said Payne. “If Canada surrenders that shield without real gains, our workers and communities will be left exposed. That is unacceptable.”

THUNDER BAY, ONT.—Unifor is very pleased to see that all three levels of government have confirmed that Toronto Transit Commission subway trains will be manufactured at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay, securing jobs for workers represented by Unifor Local 1075.

“This is a great victory. Unifor fought long and hard to get the federal, provincial and municipal governments to get on board and support a Made-in-Canada solution,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “We must use our Canadian procurement dollars to support Canadian workers and Canadian-made products, especially given the current trade war.”

“This decision to formally award this contract to Alstom speaks volumes with respect to how we must support Canadian workers, local industries, economies and communities. We need to see more of this if we are to build a more resilient Canadian economy.”

In a joint media release today, the governments noted that “in the face of U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty, this decision will support Canadian and Ontario workers with good manufacturing jobs and ensure reliable trains for Toronto transit riders.”

The Alstom sole-source construction contract means Unifor members will build 70 six-car trains – 55 of those to replace aging infrastructure on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) and 15 to be used for the Yonge North and Scarborough Extensions.

“This is the right move to bolster Canada’s economy by creating sustainable, good-paying jobs right here in Ontario,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi.

In January, Ontario committed to spend nearly $500 million to refurbish 181 GO Transit bi-level rail coaches, which is expected to support hundreds of jobs for at the Alstom plant in Thunder Bay.

“We are excited and ready to build the subways of the future,” said Unifor Local 1075 President Justin Roberts. “Reliable, sturdy and resilient – the way today’s announcement has contributed to the working lives of our members.”

Governments in Canada will spend tens of billions of dollars on transit vehicles in the coming years. In a sector valued at $2.9 billion GDP in recent years, leveraging this procurement to maximize Canadian content means procuring trusted, reliable vehicles that support Canadian jobs.

Canadian auto workers are banding together and strategizing as sweeping tariffs from the United States on Canadian vehicles, parts, and raw materials threaten tens of thousands of jobs and billions in manufacturing investment.

In an Aug. 15 national webinar on auto tariffs, Unifor President Lana Payne told auto sector members that the union’s position is clear: If you sell in Canada, you must build in Canada.

“We have been clear that a bad deal, that legitimizes tariffs with the United States is worse than no deal at all right now,” said Payne.

“This is the fight of our lives, [and] we may need to be prepared to lay it all on the line.  There is so much at stake right now and at risk. We’re up against a U.S. President who has been very clear about he wants – he wants auto jobs and is willing to use extortion and threats on a daily basis to get them. And it is us – collectively – that is standing in his way.”

Since the U.S. imposed tariffs of up to 50% on steel, aluminum and copper products, 25% on finished vehicles and parts, and other levies on key manufacturing inputs, the Canadian auto sector has been scrambling to adjust. The measures, including different treatment for CUSMA complying goods, are framed by the White House as a way to protect American jobs, but instead are designed to shift vehicle assembly south of the border.

“If these tariffs are not dealt with, the Canadian and North American auto industry will never look the same. And we need to look at this as a crisis,” said Trevor Longpre, Local 199 General Motors Plant Chair at the St. Catharine Propulsion Plant and GM Master Bargaining Committee Chair.

“Maybe the biggest industrial crisis we will face in our lifetimes. And everything is at stake.”

Unifor Research Director Angelo DiCaro warned that Canadians should be prepared for more incoming stings on the tariff front.

“Heavy trucks, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, drones wood products, critical minerals and polysilicon — this list grows much larger,” he said. “We’re nowhere out of the woods yet, and there’s more damage still to come.”

The federal government needs to use its full force to establish a permanent resolve that is based on zero tariffs, for the Canadian auto industry, DiCaro added, and that auto manufacturers must maintain their Canadian investments commitment and production footprints.

While Canadian-made parts shipped directly to U.S. plants currently avoid tariffs under a temporary reprieve, parts inside Canadian-assembled vehicles exported to the United States are hit with the full 25% levy. Unifor argues this loophole is intentional, keeping American assembly plants running while undermining Canada’s.

The impact is already visible. Stellantis has delayed planned electric vehicle retooling at its Brampton assembly plant. Its Windsor plant has seen production slowdowns and a postponed third shift. General Motors has also announced job and production cuts at Oshawa and Ingersoll.

Unifor is urging Ottawa to respond forcefully, including continued counter tariffs on vehicles built in U.S. and ensuring that automakers in Canada who benefit from tariff exemptions maintain their Canadian workforce and investment commitments.

The union is also pressing the federal government to deploy its $2 billion Strategic Response Fund to keep the auto sector afloat during the trade dispute.

“Auto workers and steel workers and forestry workers must not pay the price of this trade war.”

Payne said Unifor is preparing a second phase of its “Protect Canadian Jobs” campaign this fall, with rallies planned in key auto towns, and is asking for not only auto workers, but all members from different industries, to come together in solidarity to fight.

“We don’t give up, and I know that I can count on all of you to be there in the days and weeks ahead, no matter what is asked of us,” she said. “So please stay strong.”