Labour unity is the order of the day at the OFL convention where 1,000 delegates unanimously chose their new leadership team today.

High-profile and longtime labour leader Sid Ryan is the president-elect, replacing Wayne Samuelson who, after 12 years in office, decided not to seek re-election.

“This is a talented and dedicated team,” says Samuelson. “Once these three announced their candidacy, it didn’t take long for a consensus to develop that they were the right people for the job.”

Steelworker Marie Kelley was acclaimed to the position of secretary-treasurer and will take over from Irene Harris, who has also been in OFL office for 12 years, the first

eight as executive vice-president.

Re-elected to the executive vice-president’s office is Terry Downey, who was an OPSEU executive board member and regional vice-president before her first OFL term in 2005.

Delegates clearly welcomed the leadership team’s message of unity and commitment to building a new economy that serves the needs of working people, their families, and communities.

In his acceptance speech, Ryan cited his labour background in Canada with the Steelworkers union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The president of CUPE Ontario for the past 17 years reserved special mention for the guidance he received from his father, who told him: “Have the courage of your convictions to stand up and be counted. And those words ring in my ears.”

Leading off nominations for Ryan was Pearl Sawyer, executive vice-president for the province-wide UFCW Local 1000A.

Ryan is the one to lead the OFL at this time, Sawyer told delegates.

“Sid has shown himself to be a formidable voice for working people and their families,” she said.

“He is committed to labour unity. He’s engaged in the search for a progressive strategy to build the new economy and social solidarity. And I believe he is bringing to Ontario labour what the movement needs at this time to make Ontario work.”

Business and government leaders are blaming the crisis for fallout that’s actually caused by their own actions, and using it as an excuse for more anti-worker action, he said.

“In communities across the province, we are seeing the carnage of free trade agreements, tax cuts, privatization, and constant deregulation,” he said.

“And how does the government respond? They respond by saying we need more of what’s caused the problem in the first place.”

The labour movement has the ability and the obligation to make the economy and governments serve the needs of working people, their families, and communities, he said. He went on to say that to be as effective as possible, the labour movement has to restructure itself.

As powers have devolved from the federal government to the provinces and local governments, union membership has become more concentrated at the provincial and local levels.

“Our movement is at an incredibly important crossroad,” said Samuelson, who is stepping down after 12 years in office. “We have a structure that doesn’t recognize the changes that have taken place in this movement.

“We need to restructure this labour movement so we can be a force on the ground.”

The labour movement has led the way on critical issues that affect people’s daily lives, and must continue to do so, he said.

Key challenges include improving pensions and protecting public services, according to Samuelson.

Sixty-two per cent of people have no workplace pension plan, and many of those who do are faced with reduced pensions because their employer-controlled plans are underfunded.

Ontario’s Liberal government is threatening to attack jobs and earnings of public sector workers when it should attack its own revenue problem by doing something about corporate tax cuts and “the $5 billion they’re about to shift over to corporations in their HST scheme,” said Samuelson.

“This is a game of fear and threats,” he said, and Ontarians have to remember “the problems aren’t caused by providing health care, education, retraining and support, or long-term care for our grandparents.”

Samuelson said he’s leaving the OFL presidency with the firm belief that the OFL will continue to grow and that the affiliated unions and their members have the strength and solidarity to build on strong foundations.

“We will elect a strong team of leadership for the coming years,” he said. “We’ll collectively set a path for the years ahead.”

Spirit and strength were evident during the OFL’s Drive to Work campaign which held over 100 events in 53 communities in June.

As hard as it has been to hear the stories of job loss and devastation in communities across Ontario, Samuelson says he was heartened by the commitment of labour councils and activists who have helped people get their stories out.

The “bosses” who have so much money “can never match the passion of each and every one of you,” he said. “And the other thing we have that they’ll never have, is that there will always be a helluva lot more of us than there are of them.”