Jerry Dias, Face of Canadian Automakers Union, Under Investigation

Readers may recall yesterday’s news about the retirement of Jerry Dias, head honcho for Unifor, which is the union outfit that represents many autoworkers in Canada. At the time, it was stated the man retired ahead of schedule due to health issues.

Now, less than 24 hours later, industry outlets are reporting that Dias has been under investigation by the union since January for “an alleged breach” of the organization’s constitution.

That’s a change in the story so fast it’s likely to snap yer neck. The Freep is reporting that Unifor released a statement on Monday, after many stories – including ours – ran detailing the choice Dias made to resign from his post over the weekend. In it, they said the organization’s National Secretary-Treasurer received a written complaint about Dias on January 26th but refused to go into any extra detail about this alleged breach. We will note the title of the union rep to whom the complaint was made, however, and leave it at that.

A meeting has been set up for next Monday to discuss the matter, and it remains to be seen if the story will be given any more oxygen in the way of details and specifics. As a simple observation of timeline, Dias was notified of this investigation on January 29th, announced leave for health reasons in mid-February, and notified the Unifor board of his early retirement on March 11th.

Dias was at the helm of Unifor since it was formed in 2013 from the bones of two other unions – the Canadian Auto Workers union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. The union is comprised of a wide array of workers, representing over 300,000 people in the Great White North. Approximately 12 percent of them toil in either auto assembly, parts, or vehicle dealerships.

We’ll keep our ear to the ground for other developments. In the meantime, two big cogs in the Unifor wheel have already announced their candidacy to replace the outgoing president.

[Image: Unifor, Twitter]