Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) have elected Sharon DeSousa as their new national president.
DeSousa has been serving as PSAC’s national executive vice-president since 2020 and 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.
“Our solidarity makes us stronger, and we will need to be more united and resilient than ever before as we fight to uphold justice and the rights of workers so that every member, in every corner of the country, is treated with dignity and respect,” DeSousa said in a news release.
The union said she’s its first racialized national president.
PSAC represents more than 245,000 public service workers across Canada. This 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 serve a three-year term.