For the first time in 15 years, the Canadian Labour Congress has a new president. Hassan Yussuff defeated incumbent Ken
Georgetti, who has been CLC President since 1999, by 40 votes yesterday.
Yussuff was first elected CLC
Secretary-Treasurer in 2002, after serving as an Executive Vice-President since
1999. Previously he was national human rights director of the Canadian Auto
Workers union – now UNIFOR.
Shortly after the results were made public,
Georgetti passed a motion to have the vote counted as a unanimous one in favour
of Yussuff, greeting the president-elect and raising their hands in solidarity
at the podium.
In his first speech after election, Yussuff
re-affirmed his commitment to an inclusive and mobilized labour movement. He
also sent a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the CLC will fight attacks on labour law
in Canada.
“We have, for the first time, a government
that is actively attacking organized labour,” Yussuff told rabble.ca after his
speech, referencing recent federal bills like Bill C-377. “They’ve been trying
to put all sorts of sticks in the spokes of the union movement. It’s a direct
attack on rights that are guaranteed under the Charter.”
The CLC represents 3.3 million Canadian
workers – bringing together Canada’s national and international unions along
with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 111 district
labour councils. The MGEU is a member of the CLC through the National Union of
Public and General Employees.