Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) have elected Sharon DeSousa as their new national president.
DeSousa has been serving as national executive vice-president of the union, which represents more than 245,000 public service workers across Canada, since 2020. She was a regional executive for about a decade before that.
She replaces Chris Aylward, who has been president since 2018 and did not run for re-election this year.
The union said she’s its first racialized national president.
“I’m just quite honoured that our members put the trust in me to lead,” said DeSousa on Thursday, standing in front of Parliament Hill.
DeSousa said throughout her career, she’s been in various leadership roles and was often “the only racialized person and the youngest woman in the room.”
“It’s truly unbelievable [to have] the confidence of the membership in me, and for other members who belong to equity groups to see themselves reflected in the leadership.”
Will fight back-to-work mandate
DeSousa said she’s planning to prioritize a fight against the government’s plan to bring public servants back to the office three days a week, which was confirmed by the Treasury Board earlier this month and met with strong pushback from public servants and their unions.
According to a recent PSAC survey, members “are ready to take action,” she said.
“You better believe it will be a summer of discontent,” said DeSousa.
PSAC’s change in leadership comes after last year’s widespread strikes and as it has been clashing with the federal government over a mandate to return to the office three days per week.
More than 9,000 Canada Border Services Agency workers under PSAC are in a legal strike position as of June 6, the union said Wednesday, with mediation scheduled for this coming Monday.
Alex Silas has been elected as the new national executive vice-president. He was previously serving as the vice-president for the capital region.
Silas and DeSousa will each serve a three-year term.